To have completely misunderstood the meaning of some sayings?

[KermitTheToad]

I only found out today that the term Social Butterfly refers to someone who is outgoing and loves social events. I thought it meant you didn't like social events, as in you would fly away and avoid them. I also until recently thought that a Spendthrift is somebody who is frugal in their spending. I assumed that as thrifty meant not being wasteful, that Spendthrift meant being careful in what you spent.
YANBU..I see where you are coming from.
YABU.. You are a wally, go back to school!

I also used to think this is a child 😂

I wonder if you're confusing this with a similar phrase.
"Prove" meaning "to test" usually arises when we discuss "the exception that proves the rule". A logically nonsensical saying in the way that we understand "proof", but makes sense if you read it as "the exception that tests the rule".

(So "no absences allowed whatsoever" might be the rule, and "what if you are in prison for a crime you didn't commit/having chemo /in labour" might be situations that end up being exceptions to this rule... the rule would be tested and possibly amended by these exceptions.)

"Proof of the pudding being in the eating" has pretty much the same meaning whether you mean "prove" to test or to show how good it is.

Slightly off topic but somewhat related but I was recently annoyed by an MN poster referring general food items as "edibles".
Everyone was telling her that meant drugs. She wouldn't have it. Like she doesn't know the difference between the words "weeds" and "weed".

DH and I had an argument with our sons about this. They were convinced it was “can’t be asked”. It was hard to persuade them that it’s actually “can’t be arsed” and they shouldn’t say it in front of their teachers!

It would fit the way your friend sees it ( as in skin colour) but it's absolutely not originally that. The dark refers to hair colour of a white Hollywood film star type.

Ah ha! Ive always thought Trojan too! But of course its not that. Every day's a school day.

Ah, you might be right!

I think it's a terrible saying! It's too ambiguous and you don't even have to say it sarcastically to reverse the meaning. It just depends if the friend ('a friend in need') is the one who is in need or is the friend who'll help you out when where you are in need.

What’s very unhelpful is when the same metaphor has two opposite meanings. DH sometimes says “it’s all downhill from here” meaning for example that he has had his last tricky work meeting of the week and it’s easy going until the weekend. My first thought when he says that is always that things will go downhill in the sense of going disastrously wrong. Then I have to remember what he actually means.

No ..its if you have a friend and they need something from you, they are going to act as a really good friend to you.

Agreed - I have to stop and think about this far more often than I should!

It’s really not.

@Cyclistmumgrandma is correct.

it’s a positive phrase, not a negative.

it means if somebody is there for you when you are in need, they are a true friend.

No no, it's definitely "it looks like a bombs hit it" meaning a terrible mess. But it's the way we say it that makes it sound like a single word 🤣 or sometimes I do say "it's a bloody bombsite in here"

You had to produce your university transcripts to get your training contract?!? Ive never heard of that! Thank goodness that wasn't a thing here!

No. It's if you are in need and you have a friend who is willing to help you. But I agree it can be read either way.

No. It really isn't.

YES IT IS!!!!

There. Caps have won the day.

I am afraid you are completely wrong about that!

well, edibles meaning drugs is a colloquialism.

your friend is correct. edible really just means something that cab be eaten. it has just become accepted as shorthand for "edible drugs".

It's always annoyed me a bit, to be honest. In the same way that hen do / hen party / hen night seems tovhave beeh replaced with just "hen".

"what are we doing for Janet's hen?" etc.

Hate it. Hen do / hen night / hen party are all fine. dont like hen.

Not having it. That's what it means and that's how Ive used it for my whole life and I would prefer not to have to think of what a twit I have made of myself during that time.

What can I say?

Another one that irritated me is the misuse of 'epicentre'. "This is the epicentre of the drug trade" etc🙄. It used as a faux intellectual expression to make some more dramatic. It is not a synonym for 'centre'

This thread is really showing what an utter f-wit Ive been all my life. There's LOADS of sayings I've got completely wrong. I thought I was pretty clued up and well-read and that turns out to be complete piffle.

Just shows though how amazing the English language is. So many wonderful and confusing expressions.

Isn’t the epicentre effectively the source/centre point of an earthquake? The epicentre of the drug trade makes perfect sense if so because it’s a metaphor for the strongest point that then has ripple effects much further out?

Or have I also misunderstood epicentre?

But they wouldn't genuinely be a true "friend indeed"; they would be acting as though they were.
So your reading is the 'sarcastic' reading, as someone said earlier.

But the sincere non-sarcastic sentiment is that a friend who is there for you when you are in need really is a true friend.

I don't think anyone would think anyone stupid for using the sarcastic way, as it would usually be obvious what is meant by the context (not sure I've ever said it, myself!)