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?

Another Scot here that says banal and canal do ryhme.

I detest seeing bought and brought used the wrong way round.

(of a place) pleasant; not run-down.
"an over-priced flat in a none too salubrious area"

Similar:
pleasant
agreeable
nice
select
upmarket
high-class
leafy
fashionable
expensive
luxurious
grand
fancy
posh
swanky
plushy
classy
glitzy
swish
swank
h
Opposite:
unpleasant

    downmarket

Origin
mid 16th century: from Latin salubris (from salus ‘health’) + -ous.
Translate salubrious to
Use over time for: salubrious
Definitions from Oxford Languages

Banal does rhyme with canal if you have a northern accent. Southern and RP would not have it rhyming. Neither pronunciation is wrong. Grammar/ usage can be wrong. Accents shouldn’t be judged as ‘wrong’.

Hoi polloi is Greek for 'the many'
so, 'the hoi polloi' is redundant

Isn't banal pronounced like canal then??

Fulsome does not mean great.
It means sickeningly obsequious.

This isn't exactly the same, but...am I crazy to think that "apathy" is the opposite of both "love" and "hate?"

@parietal

I'd say 'canal' with an AL at the end, and 'banal' with an 'arl' at the end so I think they don't rhyme

Yes, I agree CanAl and BanArl

@AndromedaDud

"Unctuous" was used all the time to refer to what I assumed was sumptuous, indulgent food - perhaps like those m&s ads with the oozing chocolate fondant. It means oily/greasy, so I can kind of see why "indulgent" food might be oily but it sounds horrible now!

Nigella Lawson has used that word when describing her delicious food🤔

Dearth - I always thought it meant a wealth of something. Instead it means the opposite!

Isn't banal pronounced like canal then??

Depends on your accent. Some people seem to add an 'r' to banal. (which is just a daft thing to do if you have a rhotic accent like mine)

@OddHoleySocks

Isn't banal pronounced like canal then??

Depends on your accent. Some people seem to add an 'r' to banal. (which is just a daft thing to do if you have a rhotic accent like mine)

No they’re not adding an “r” they are using the letter “r” as a written way to denote a long “a” sound when trying to describe here how they say it- it’s because non-rhotic speakers pronounce “ar” as “aa”- think how RP speakers say “car” , far etc.

Some people seem to add an 'r' to banal.

No they don't. BanARL and banAHL are the same sound. No added Rs at all (not people with a rhotic accent can't seem to grasp that)

I'm always surprised at how many people seem to think that 'simplistic' is another way of saying something is 'simple'. It's becoming quite common and sets my teeth on edge.

tomas yes, Nigella was one of the people I had in mind!

@SoupDragon

Some people seem to add an 'r' to banal.

No they don't. BanARL and banAHL are the same sound. No added Rs at all (not people with a rhotic accent can't seem to grasp that)

I have a rhotic accent and do understand that now, but it took a bit Probably safer to use -ahl rather than -arn to avoid cofusion on here, I'd say. It made me understand why people on British tv often say Dara Ó Briain's first name oddly though (he's on Mock the Week). I think the r confuses people with non-rhotic accent in this case, as they say Daah-ra. It's Da-ra, short a's. Don't think he minds though, but as I say it just always sounds odd to my ears..like people saying Haah-ry for Harry.

On the canal/ banal pronunciation-

If you have a Scottish accent, there is no long ‘a’ sound, so you can ‘correctly’ pronounce canal and banal and they rhyme.

If you are English ( RP in particular), they will sound different.

It’s like the words ‘aunt’ and ‘ant’ - in a Scottish accent they are exactly the same.

They are all correct.

However, the long ‘a’ sound is a relatively recent affection in southern English accents.

Shakespeare would pronounce canal and banal so they rhyme.

But languages develop over time. And words often change meaning.

I still cringe at using the word Docile in a conversation with a friend regarding her son. What I meant by that was that he was calm, easygoing, sweet and lovely, however she took huge offence and tore a strip of me for insinuating that he wasn’t very bright. I still don’t know what the word really means and I don’t use it any more

Are you in the north? When I was teenager -'70s - calling someone docile, usually fucking docile, was an insult: idiot/ dim. I haven't heard it used in years. Might have been a teen trend.

Probably safer to use -ahl rather than -arn to avoid cofusion on here, I'd say.

Confusion, and also offence- it never ceases to amaze me that people use this way of writing “phonetically” and don’t stop to think that huge chunks of the population pronounce their “r”s and will not read it in the same way.

Altruistic I thought it meant selfish ooops

haha poor you. Docile! I thought it meant dim but actually means easily led

Oh I totally understand that.

But I'm amazed how many people seem to think it's a sensible way to denote that sound, when it sounds very different to a significant proportion of society.

Probably safer to use -ahl rather than -arn to avoid cofusion on here, I'd say.

I meant -arl causing confusion, rather than -arn causing cofusion

What does lucked out mean?

I have one friend who uses it to mean I was really lucky and another who uses it to mean I had bad luck.

It always confuses me

" I think the r confuses people with non-rhotic accent in this case, as they say Daah-ra."

I disagree. If you have a non-rhotic accent you still pronounce the 'r' when it is between two vowels. Non-rhotic means you don't pronounce an 'r' when it comes before a consonant or is the last letter.

It's the fact that it's an Irish name I think. If it were English it would have two 'r's to indicate that the 'a' sound is short e.g. Darren.