# Words you've misunderstood / linked wrong in your mind **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 8, 2010, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-misunderstood-linked-wrong-in-your-mind/524149 "2010-01-08T11:47:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-misunderstood-linked-wrong-in-your-mind/524149/1 "2010-01-08T11:47:29Z")
I’m reading a lot of scientific papers at the mo, and every time I read the word _equivocal_ I think “clear”, “definite”. I don’t know if it’s because UNequivocal is more common outside of science, but that’s the link in my brain and I keep having to correct myself. _Corollary_ is still linked in my mind with something like “the opposite of”. And a couple of examples from maybe young teenager or pre-teen: _adjacent_ and _sprinting_ (I thought sprinting meant something like jogging; that it was slower than running. Yeah I know there’s a 100m _sprint_ but I hadn’t really thought about it). ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-misunderstood-linked-wrong-in-your-mind/524149/2 "2010-01-08T13:09:24Z")
_Nonplussed_ never means what I think it should mean. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-misunderstood-linked-wrong-in-your-mind/524149/3 "2010-01-08T14:29:00Z")
“Inflammable” (capable of being inflamed) no longer means what it meant when I was growing up. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-misunderstood-linked-wrong-in-your-mind/524149/4 "2010-01-08T15:00:51Z")
I always have to stop and think about “levity.” For some reason it evokes in me a feeling of being heavy and serious. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-misunderstood-linked-wrong-in-your-mind/524149/5 "2010-01-08T15:19:52Z")
I just recently used the word “dearth” in the sense of (for example) “we have a dearth of reality shows on the TV now” and it was taken to mean what I literally typed (that there aren’t that many reality shows on the TV) rather than what I meant (we’re innundated with them). Was called out on it (may have even been on the SDMB, not sure) and my ignorance was fought. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-misunderstood-linked-wrong-in-your-mind/524149/6 "2010-01-09T02:11:09Z")
Clavicle still sounds like a musical instrument to me. I always call it a collarbone. ---
**Author:** ![Landshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/77aa72/32.png) [@Landshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Landshark)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-misunderstood-linked-wrong-in-your-mind/524149/7 "2010-01-09T02:29:00Z")
I have to remind myself not to use “bemuse” when I want “amuse”. Can’t seem to remember “bemuse” means “to confuse, to bewilder” ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-misunderstood-linked-wrong-in-your-mind/524149/8 "2010-01-09T02:41:42Z")
> [@Serenata67](#): > > Clavicle still sounds like a musical instrument to me. I always call it a collarbone. Haven’t you heard of _The Well-Tempered Clavicle?_ It’s famous among the chiropractic set.