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?

[quote WhereverIGoddamnLike]@Calmandmeasured1

Nope. In the UK they rhyme and whether in the UK or the US, there is no r sound in there.[/quote]
S/he isn't saying there is an r sound in there. It's a phonetic rendering of a long a sound in a non-rhotic accent.

I think the banal/canal thing is just regional- in my variant of Yorkshire accent its banaal (long second a) and canal (flat second a).

It's awful when you realize you are saying something just plain wrong though- I never pronounce inevitable correctly- I always say inny-vitable (then curse myself).

[quote WhereverIGoddamnLike]@Flaunch

In the UK, they both sound the same.
Bah-nal
Cah-nal[/quote]
Carnal?

Banal does not rhyme with canal. It’s a long a in banal like banana but ending in l.

I'm sitting here saying them over and over.
It's more if an "uh" sound than an "ah" sound. But they rhyme.

I'm never quite sure whether nonplussed means disconcerted / perplexed / taken aback, or whether it means the opposite of that. I've seen it used in both contexts.

@Bluntness100

The one I see written on here often is “draws” instead of “drawers”.

Which always confuses me because I think then the people actually say draws instead of drawers, not just they don’t know how to spell it , so basically they think they are called a chest of draws.

in my accent they are the same, hence the number of people who write draws, because that it what they are saying.

I always thought belligerent meant something a bit like jovial. Then I did Latin at school and learnt it was pretty much the opposite (literally "waging war"). Loved Latin, but I have to say this is the most important thing it taught me!

No on Earth is calling canals Carnals?

I have a (lovely) colleague who misuses a word. She's done it numerous times over the last few months and I know which word she really means. It's consistent and they begin with the same letter but that's the only similarity.
I just don't know how to tell her!

I pronounce drawers as draws, I know it's drawers and in my head I'm saying drawers (the er is ever so slight) but it comes out as draws. I'm now trying to say draw-ers and it sounds ridiculous

@Melroses
Where are you getting an r from?

It was always my understanding that the word flammable was coined after the word inflammable, because the latter was often confused to mean not-flammable as that’s often how we understand the prefix in- to work. No idea if that’s true or not, or just something that was said to me once and never thought to fact check.

Ha I've always thought it meant something or an area was dodgy...I was probably thinking of insalubrious!

@tiredandgrumpy

I always thought belligerent meant something a bit like jovial. Then I did Latin at school and learnt it was pretty much the opposite (literally "waging war"). Loved Latin, but I have to say this is the most important thing it taught me!

My favourite was ducere - to lead - giving us ducts and ducting

I’m in the U.K. and definitely don’t think banal and canal rhyme! (“Banarl” vs “can-al”) Must be one of those words that depends on your accent. Maybe we’ve found the new ‘scone’
Yup, agree that spendthrift sounds like it should refer to someone who is a thrifty spender and not the opposite!

Not according to the Oxford English Dictionary

According to Oxford they do.

www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/banal

www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/canal?q=Canal

[quote WhereverIGoddamnLike]@Melroses
Where are you getting an r from?[/quote]
CAHNAL - that was the pronounciation you wrote

@AndromedaDud - "nonplussed" is the one my DH has been misusing for years and it drives me mad.

What do people think Mortified means? I think it means horribly, crushingly embarrassed:
"I was mortified to discover after the awards ceremomny than my dress had been tucked in my knickers"

I had to have words with DP recently over the meaning of mortified.

Cleave is another word with two opposite meanings.

I’m in the U.K. and definitely don’t think banal and canal rhyme! (“Banarl” vs “can-al

There is no r in banal. It must be dialect, I attached the correct pronunciation link above.

Pragmatic.... I always thought it meant to be hostile/aggressive bju8 it turns out it means to deal with situations in a sensible
and reasonable way. I've been using this word wrongly all my life and no one has corrected me 😱

Yes to spendthrift. Makes no sense in my head the actual meaning.

@tiredandgrumpy

I always thought belligerent meant something a bit like jovial. Then I did Latin at school and learnt it was pretty much the opposite (literally "waging war"). Loved Latin, but I have to say this is the most important thing it taught me!

Having been told off by a teacher for being belligerent as a child, I was pretty sure it wasn't a nice thing.

(And he was right. And I was right to be belligerent)

How about bellicose from the same root?

@PastMyBestBeforeDate