To have misunderstood the meaning of this word my whole life?

[Lemonsaretheonlyfruit]

Salubrious.

I always thought it meant luxurious. Turns out it means healthy or health giving. (My 10 year old DS asked me this morning so I looked it up just to double check I was giving him the correct definition!)

Who knew? (Probably everyone apart from me). Any more of these to share?

@Sonmi451

I always thought the word "autoclave" sounded like a massive terrifying machine covered in knives, like that thing that that Sarah and Hoggle run away from in this scene in Labyrinth. The reality, when I discovered it, was spectacularly underwhelming.

I always thought it was a musical instrument!

Was it Secrets & Lies where the woman who is really hungry says "I'm ravishing!" ?

Upmost/utmost confusion annoys me, as does phase/faze

@CheetasOnFajitas Have you googled? Aren't autoclaves disappointing?

Americans saying "I'm leery of something" always throws me too

[quote Sonmi451]@CheetasOnFajitas Have you googled? Aren't autoclaves disappointing?[/quote]
Yes! I learned the truth in an episode of Call the Midwife .

The word Virtual is more used these days to refer to an online event. It also means actual. So you could say "the virtual event was a virtual disaster."

I've heard tender hooks used (wrongly) for tenterhooks. On tenterhooks means tense, tension - from the tenter frames that cloth was stretched on using tension hooks in the textile industry.
Great thread OP.

A lot of people say “part of the course” when the expression is actually “par for the course”. It’s not really surprising that people with no knowledge of golf would assume it is “part”.

@Hangingover

I thought calling a spade a spade was about shovels. I said it for years. Mortified.

What??? I use this phrase all the time, as in ‘my Nan calls a spade a spade’... what does it mean then? I thought it meant, doesn’t sugar coat things, is rather ‘outspoken’?

Banal and canal definitely should rhyme!! Both are taken from French and most definitely rhyme there!

@AHFemale Tenter hooks? I've been saying that wrong all my life! Wow. Mind blown!

I always forget what "veto" and "endorse" mean.

@stovetopespresso

Who knows what 'solipsistic' means? Not I...

When people say "the proof is in the pudding" that really annoys me, because it's nonsense. The expression goes "the proof of the pudding is in the eating" meaning you only know how good something is if you try it for yourself.

There's a street in Swansea called Salubrious Passage 😂

[quote Sonmi451]@AHFemale Tenter hooks? I've been saying that wrong all my life! Wow. Mind blown!

I always forget what "veto" and "endorse" mean.[/quote]
Out of interest @Sonmi451, what did you picture a “tender hook” to look like?

Please stop saying that banal and canal don’t rhyme and that those who think they do are saying it wrong. It’s very rude.
They may not rhyme is some UK accents but they most certainly do in others.

I don't rhyme banal with canal. I say ba- naaal with the a like the second a in banana, and can-AL, with the second a like the a in apple.

Unfortunately, everyone doesn't pronounce banana the same either

All the a's in banana are short a's for me, as are the a's in canal and banal. For me, canal and banal rhyme, even though for many they don't.

@Sonmi451
I think the verb to prove' used to mean 'to test' which is where that expression came from.

Not a misunderstanding but I’ve always thought that ‘acquitted’ really doesn’t sound like what it means.
It’s such a harsh word to describe someone found to be innocent.

In 'most everything', 'most' is short for 'almost'. So it means 'nearly everything'.

This is name confusion rather than meaning but I had a flatmate who thought Nelson was Fellatio not Horatio

I have to sit on my hands on here when I see discrete / discreet misused. Really quite different meanings too.

Discreet - keeping something quiet
Discrete - stand alone

Me too. And not just on here. They're misused/misspelled all over the place.

@CheetasOnFajitas I'm not sure, I think like meat hooks with carcasses hanging up? I'd never given it that much thought! It's not something I'd say very often, but certainly in my head would have thought "tender" hooks rather than tenter.

@CatteStreet Thank you! I tried asking an American friend once and they didn't understand the question!

Is it 'chomping at the bit' or 'champing at the bit' for eagerness?

@GuillermoVanHelsing

Spendthrift. To me, that should mean a miserly, penny pinching person not some irresponsible cash splasher

It doesn't mean miserly/penny pinching? I'm speechless....

For years I thought it was 'remuneration'. Still don't really understand why it is remuneration, when it's like, about numbers innit?!?!?!