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?

Imo lucked out means really lucky - but it sounds like it should mean the same as out of luck...

Reading something aloud to my husband yesterday, I pronounced banal like anal. It took me a while to try every type of pronunciation possible before I got it right, then remembered “oh, I do know this word”. Husband then proceeded to remind me of other random words I say incorrectly, to his great amusement

@Gwenhwyfar

" 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.

That might be it so. I know that r is pronounced between vowels and that people always say the r in Dara, but I wondered if perhaps they were lengthening the a in the first part of the name simply because they're so used to saying it like that.

Are two r's always needed to give a short a? There are exceptions for names surely...Gary, Harold?

I think the main problem, as you say, is that the name is unfamiliar and that people don't listen to him when he introduces himself.

Years ago, I thought the word 'twat' was just the same as 'twit'. One day at work at a major plc the big chief, the new CEO, unexpectedly dropped into the office I was in... and, well getting the wrong meaning of that word dropped me in a bit of bother.

Years ago, I thought the word 'twat' was just the same as 'twit'

In some parts of the UK, it is very much used that way. In others though, its highly offensive, so best to use caution!

For YEARS (until I bought a house at the age of 40) I thought that it was New PVC windows, not UPVC windows. It was only after an utterly mortifying conversation with a builder about how pleased I was that the windows in my house were new, that I realised my mistake. I thought it was like a boasty/ selling point kind of a thing "This house has got NEW PVC windows." 🤦‍♀️

It beans pleasant or favourable which could be your luxurious take.

Thanks ChessieFL I was also taught at school disinterested meant impartial but Candleabra that’s interesting to hear. I guess uninterested in as in ‘no stake’ in something or ‘no interest to declare’ kind of means the same as impartial so makes sense how this word shifts in meaning

I once walked into a food shop, & the hot guy serving me said 'hungry then?' & I said ... 'I'm ravishing'

Felt like such an idiot.

Nonplussed. Always read it as meaning not bothered, but actually it means surprised or bewildered. Although just seen that in America it does mean not bothered...but maybe that’s come from people misusing it like I was!

Also always read misled as myzled instead of miss-led

And lapel as lay-ple

@Danny8558

Fulsome does not mean great. It means sickeningly obsequious.

Fulsome can also mean generous, abundant, very large.

My bugbear is when people use the word “simplistic” in place of “simple”.

@OkOkWhatsNext

Nonplussed. Always read it as meaning not bothered, but actually it means surprised or bewildered. Although just seen that in America it does mean not bothered...but maybe that’s come from people misusing it like I was!

I just checked, and saw the same North American meaning. Beats me, everyone I know uses "nonplussed" to mean bothered or confused. I don't know anyone who reverses the meaning. May be a regional thing, I suppose.

Or devastated

Seems there are a few instances of regional variations in spelling/ meaning across the Atlantic...? Could care less, irregardless and do to come to mind.

😂yup, so many mortified MNetters.

What annoys me is when them is used instead of those, eg The eggs are near them biscuits, instead of those biscuits.

Banal and canal do rhyme in Scottish accent - the slightly longer aaa sound isn't enough to be noticed in an accent that tends to elongate a sounds anyway. There is definitely no R in it so why would you say that? I get that things sound different in different accents so accept that it may not be the case that it rhymes totally in every area of the Uk but there's no need for adding random letters that don't even exist in the word

😂yup, so many mortified MNetters

How do they misuse it?

I always thought that if you were ambivalent then you were sitting on the fence.

So out of curiosity, those who pronounce banal with an r in it, is it like snarl? Would it rhyme with snarl?

Those who put an 'r' in it have been taught that 'ar' is a digraph that makes the 'ah' sound. In Scotland, because we pronounce our 'r's that diraph is not used do it looks nonsensical. The earliest example I was ever aware of was 'lurve' which we're suppose to pronounce as 'luuuuuuve' not lurrrve. Weird right?

I.was in my twenties before i realised that the written word 'chameleon' was not pronounced cha-mee-lon. I knew all about the actual animal and how to pronounce it correctly, I'd just not worrked out they were one and the same thing...