Believe it or not, even native speakers make mistakes when it comes to English, like with these commonly mispronounced words, for example. We’re only human, after all! There are some common words in English that are used improperly or are words that don’t mean what you think they mean.
Here are some of the best examples (and pronunciations!) of words that don’t mean what we think they mean:
Decimate
What people think it means: to completely destroy something
What it actually means: to reduce something by a tenth
If you look at the word decimate, you can see deci, or ten, in the word. This word comes from when Roman commanders would execute (kill) one out of every ten soldiers to help maintain (keep) discipline (good behavior, focus) and loyalty.
Disinterested
What people think it means: not interested in something or apathetic (neutral)
What it actually means: someone not influenced by personal feelings or concerns
While many think that uninterested and disinterested are essentially (basically, in essence) the same word, they aren’t. If someone is disinterested, they’re able to separate their emotions or feelings from something, instead of being uninterested (simply not finding something interesting).
Factoid
What people think it means: a small fact, or unimportant trivia
What it actually means: something that sounds credible (factual, true, believable) and is repeated, but has no basis (foundation, reason) in truth
Norman Mailer is the one who coined the phrase, so the definition he provides (gives, writes) is the correct one. Fake news, anyone?
Infer
What people think it means: something strongly suggesting (implying, saying) the truth
What it actually means: to derive (to come to, to reach) a conclusion from evidence (fact that show something 100% to be true)
In other words, information can’t infer something, but you can infer something from the information given.
Inflammable
What people think it means: unable to catch on fire
What it actually means: capable of (able to) being set on fire and burning very quickly
Sometimes, when there are words that don’t mean what you think they mean, the real definition is the complete opposite of what you may believe. (How is this possible???) Inflammable is one of those cases, and is very important, we think, to know what it means!
Ironic
What people think it means: a funny coincidence
What it actually means: words or situations that are the opposite of what was expected
Irony is a difficult concept to get sometimes, as it can be based in humor and has a funny twist (connection, perspective) to it. But running into your old college roommate on vacation isn’t ironic, sorry to say, even if you were “just talking about her”. Neither is “rain on your wedding day”-sorry Alanis Morissette.
However:
- Romeo and Juliet’s death scene is ironic.
- A fire station burning down is ironic.
- “Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink,” in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (listen to “Gandalf” Ian McKellen read the poem) is ironic.
Nauseated
What people think it means: to feel sick
What it actually means: to make someone feel sick or to fill with disgust (extreme distaste, dislike)
If you’re feeling sick, you’re nauseous. So, “The rocking of the boat made me nauseous,” versus, “The sight of road kill nauseated me.”
Nonplussed
What people think it means: to be unconcerned (not care) or unbothered (not worried or concerned) by something
What it actually means: to be so surprised that you don’t know how to react
Like inflammable, nonplussed is one of the strange cases where the actual meaning of the word is the complete opposite of what people usually think it means.
Peruse
What people think it means: to skim something
What it actually means: to read something very thoroughly (very carefully)
Much like nonplussed and inflammable, the real meaning of peruse is the opposite of what people think it means. There really is a difference between skimming and perusing the newspaper! Who would have thought?
Tortuous
What people think it means: when it feels as if you’re being tortured (put into a lot of pain by someone else)
What it actually means: full of twists and turns
The mistake with tortuous may come down to a simple misreading: Most people add an ‘r’ in tortuous where there isn’t one. Read that again…the word is not tortuRous!
A book or movie may be tortuous if there are a lot of twists and surprises, or it may be torturous if it’s really boring!
Do you know of any other words that don’t mean what you think they mean? Or have you heard someone use a word incorrectly? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
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Looking for grammar? Try Tricky Adjectives and Adverbs, when to use Which and That, Order of Adjectives, Its vs It’s, and Present Continuous tense!
Erin Duffin lives in Hamburg, is an English teacher, blogger, yoga instructor, and is not guilty of mistakenly using any of these words…no siree! 🙂 But was surprised by other words that don’t mean what you think they mean … oops!
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