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?

Quick google to check suggest your old mum was right @kitnkaboodle

@CeramicGuineaPig

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.

My word is livid. I always think of it as being a red colour and it is actually blue grey. Puce on the other hand I think of as white grey and is actually purple.

Even that way I say they the same. They still rhyme

Not me, but we once had a temp at work and at the end of the first day I said to her that her work had been absolutely invaluable. She plainly misunderstood the meaning of the word and said “well, I tried my best” and walked off in a huff!

Ah IdrisElbow I believe we do. I recognise your name (great name BTW) from the Covid thread.

@GoJoe2020

I agree banal does rhyme with canal

Not even slightly, You''re saying one of them wrong.

I'd say you were saying the man wrong. Your accent doesn't trump mine

@OddHoleySocks

According to merriam webster

'How do you pronounce banal?
There are several pronunciations of banal, but the three most common are \BAY-nul, \buh-NAHL, and \buh-NAL\ (which rhymes with canal)'

So we are all correct

Merriam Webster is American. Listen to the pronunciation in the Oxford English Dictionary and you'll find it's ba-narl.

@Walkingthedog46

Not me, but we once had a temp at work and at the end of the first day I said to her that her work had been absolutely invaluable. She plainly misunderstood the meaning of the word and said “well, I tried my best” and walked off in a huff!

I just spat my tea out at this one!

Not a single word but:

Fine-tooth comb

You often hear people say, 'Fine TOOTHcomb' with the emphasis on the middle syllable. Which makes it sound like a comb for the teeth, rather than a comb WITH fine or narrow teeth.

You're all saying it now.

I've noticed people sometimes say that the importance of something cannot be underestimated, when what they actually mean is it cannot be overestimated!

I'd say you were saying the man wrong. Your accent doesn't trump mine

It's not about accent in this instance. Unless you can tell me which accent says can-arl...

Is there a word that sums up wasting 10 mins reading about the pronunciation of canal v banal. FML. LOL

@TellingBone

Not a single word but:

Fine-tooth comb

You often hear people say, 'Fine TOOTHcomb' with the emphasis on the middle syllable. Which makes it sound like a comb for the teeth, rather than a comb WITH fine or narrow teeth.

You're all saying it now.

Same with hog's HAIRbrush. Hogs do not normally own hairbrushes.

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

@BlueBirdGreenFence

I only discovered last year banal doesn't ryhme with canal .

This is why I stopped listening to audio books. Couldn't cope with the embarrassment of how many words I've been pronouncing wrong for years.

Are you maybe getting mixed up with anal?

@TellingBone

Not a single word but:

Fine-tooth comb

You often hear people say, 'Fine TOOTHcomb' with the emphasis on the middle syllable. Which makes it sound like a comb for the teeth, rather than a comb WITH fine or narrow teeth.

You're all saying it now.

Not saying it, singing “Islands in the Stream” .

@Hangingover

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

It is about shovels.

@CeramicGuineaPig

DH says someone in his school pronounced banal to rhyme with anal and was never allowed to forget it. He also says banal and canal do not rhyme, and he is from completely the other side of the UK to me and has a different accent.

I work in an academic science library. We are often asked where the periodical "Anals" " of something or other is.

Ooooh, GREAT THREAD!!!!

Bucolic. I couldn't believe it when I found out it meant idyllic countryside -
Thought it is such a horrible sounding word it must surely must mean something disgusting...

Yes I remember the Jennings books when he was talking about bucolic plague.

@MiniDoofa

Bucolic - sounds hideous like an illness to me but actually means “relating to pleasant aspects of countryside life”😂 Not one I have much opportunity to use anyway 😉

Didn't see your post - I agree sooo much.

Until I was about 26 I thought renal was the same as anal.

@GoJoe2020

I agree banal does rhyme with canal

Not even slightly, You''re saying one of them wrong.

Shouldn't that be, "you're saying one of them wrongly?" and she's not, they do rhyme

@GoJoe2020

I'd say you were saying the man wrong. Your accent doesn't trump mine

It's not about accent in this instance. Unless you can tell me which accent says can-arl...

covfefe!

A lot of people use the word ignorant incorrectly, I always find it really confusing.

@GoJoe2020

I'd say you were saying the man wrong. Your accent doesn't trump mine

It's not about accent in this instance. Unless you can tell me which accent says can-arl...

Yes it is. I pronounce them to rhyme. You clearly don't. Neither is wrong. Neither is right. It's accent