Words that don't mean what they seem like they might

28 Replies, 8465 Views

This thread could die a death quickly if no-one has the foggiest what I mean, lol.

But every time I hear 'concur', even though I know it equates to 'agree', for some reason, it seems like it should mean the opposite.

Can't think of any more, but I have thought this before with other words.
yes, though I can't think of any examples offhand
the word "awful"

awe - to be in awe of something, to praise it etc.
full - well..its usually good when stuff is full..

yet it means a bad thing for some reason...
Kind of related, I often think 'invariably' should mean 'almost always' but not be a synonym for 'always'.

The contexts I see it used in imply that it can mean 'most of the time', but I see the definition as 'always' when I look it up.
Dissonance Wrote:the word "awful"

awe - to be in awe of something, to praise it etc.
full - well..its usually good when stuff is full..

yet it means a bad thing for some reason...
Maybe that's some middle ages thing... like we got "oooh that's bad!" when something is good, knights in shining armor used to go around saying 'oooh that's awful mate!' when something is not good. And now we're stuck with it.
The youth are using 'allow' to mean the opposite, i.e. "Allow it".
I think it's just an abbreviation of disallow... drop the 'disa'.
" 'llow dat " has been used around these (more ghetto) parts for years. Daft though, agreed.
Dissonance Wrote:the word "awful"

awe - to be in awe of something, to praise it etc.
full - well..its usually good when stuff is full..

yet it means a bad thing for some reason...

Similarly... 'terrific' means great, when it should mean 'full of terror' really.
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hostile: unfriendly and aggressive,
i think it sounds friendly, prob because the word hospitable
inflammable. should mean non flammable
Paradigm X Wrote:inflammable. should mean non flammable

I was just about to write that Grin
ha ha how about "fuck me" when he dont really mean fuck me
littleNemo Wrote:
Paradigm X Wrote:inflammable. should mean non flammable

I was just about to write that Grin

I watched that 'run lola run' simpsons last night when Dr. Nick blew up his lab with the inflammable material Hahaha

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yonder

i always thought it meant something like 'behold' but it only means 'over there'

shame cause its a nice word and the meaning is a bit shit
Dissonance Wrote:the word "awful"

awe - to be in awe of something, to praise it etc.
full - well..its usually good when stuff is full..

yet it means a bad thing for some reason...

i always thought that is meant you were in awe of how bad it was, i.e. shocked, you can say something is awfully good
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that damn effect & affect get me every time. fucking stupid pretentious english language.
Hahaha beckett
OwenPaulStory Wrote:that damn effect & affect get me every time. fucking stupid pretentious english language.

'Affect' is generally a verb and 'effect' a noun. If you 'affect' something, you change or influence it.

"I was affected by seeing a car crash"
"Seeing a car crash had a bad effect on me."

But that's enough of me sounding like a pretentious English twat. Wink

The one that always gets me is 'Ryanair' - I always thought it was an airline, but it turns out it means "bunch of money-grabbing totally incompetent CUNTS'. Icon_evil
Theeboon Wrote:
Dissonance Wrote:the word "awful"

awe - to be in awe of something, to praise it etc.
full - well..its usually good when stuff is full..

yet it means a bad thing for some reason...
Maybe that's some middle ages thing... like we got "oooh that's bad!" when something is good, knights in shining armor used to go around saying 'oooh that's awful mate!' when something is not good. And now we're stuck with it.

Lol
Micro-soft

sort of means small and unassuming not hard... strange name for a company that's world dominating and has linkes to the military.

having said that bill does give a lot of money away and he has just sold the flight simulator section of the bussiness which i think has always had strong links to military simulation software. but who knows

it should really be called Bighard or somthing
polygon Wrote:yonder

i always thought it meant something like 'behold' but it only means 'over there'

shame cause its a nice word and the meaning is a bit shit



rubbish - it's a great word and i use it still

same roots as "beyond"
...it's like a bloody LIBRARY out there!!! http://twitter.com/executivesteve
EVP Wrote:Micro-soft

sort of means small and unassuming not hard... strange name for a company that's world dominating and has linkes to the military.

having said that bill does give a lot of money away and he has just sold the flight simulator section of the bussiness which i think has always had strong links to military simulation software. but who knows

it should really be called Bighard or somthing


Well i'd imagine they're called microsoft because they make software for microcomputers
...it's like a bloody LIBRARY out there!!! http://twitter.com/executivesteve
OwenPaulStory Wrote:that damn effect & affect get me every time. fucking stupid pretentious english language.


yes, curse the english language for having seperate words for completely different things.
...it's like a bloody LIBRARY out there!!! http://twitter.com/executivesteve
lol @ Tyranny

Here's a related one a lot of non UK people don't get,

Sarcastic people aren't funny at all Teef

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