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!

they are also turned on rather on put (e.g. onto the stove) these days but put on persists as a phrase.

Does anyone remember pulling the chain?

Yes! Me! And I still sometimes say it even though I was completely terrified of high level cisterns as a child and maybe even a bit now as an adult, even though thankfully you don’t see them so often

You should of realised the incorrect definition of the worm

No, it is just an example of use by the media as a faux intellectual device. Reminds of a friend who thought that penultimate was a higher version of ultimate and was disappointed to find it meant 2nd to ultimate. It is the same kind of misuse.

Hy-per-bo-lee.

to be fair, the prodigal son's father does tell his older son "everything I have is yours"

In the mortal realm, the prodigal son has indeed spent his inheritance already and doesn't get any more - presumably his father gives him a job like he came home ready to ask for.

It's only in the realm of immortal and boundless that you can actually start all over again

Similarly to pp, I once said to my STBH that I was "not bothered" when he asked which of us should be responsible for noting the joint finances

For years he thought I was telling him that I couldn't be arsed

Thank you :) Yes, it’s something that people actually say, but I reckon 9 out of 10 times they are using it incorrectly to mean “prompts the question”, so it’s no wonder it’s confusing to many.

It could be used like this - Person A: Abortion should be illegal because murdering babies is wrong. Person B: Well, that just begs the question (ie, Person A’s statement assumes a foetus is a baby, but that’s a key issue in arguments about abortion, so you can’t simply assume that a foetus is a baby to justify making abortion illegal).

I've given up with "begs the question" - I know full well it's nearly always used incorrectly but I have decided to be the bigger person and not mention it I'll always say "raises the question" myself, though.

I grew up in London’s East End where a lot of people ate Jellied Eels. I always thought they were saying Jelly Deals.

Oh that reminds me that for many years I thought Che Guevara was called Sheikh Avara and wondered why he wasnt Arab.

😆 I LOVE this one! I cannot unhear it now, and Che Guevara will always be Sheikh Avara now! 😆

@CrowsInMyGarden Love Jelly Deals too!

Yessss. 😄

Always thought nonplussed meant not bothered. Now I know I say non-non-plussed to mean not bothered instead 😆

I used to think he was a right cheeky wotsit calling himself a Sheikh when he was no such thing.

😆

Lol, yes!

There is a sign on a gate near me: Dogs Shut Gate.
They're clever, those dogs!

Nobody seems to have mentioned the constant misuse of "overestimate" and "underestimate". So for example, "We should not overestimate the devastation brought about by the recent floods", or "the importance of their contribution cannot be underestimated."

Of course minor tweaks to the grammar changes everything, so:

"We should not underestimate the importance of green spaces for wellbeing" is the same as
"We cannot overestimate the importance of green spaces for wellbeing"

Catch 22
You need experience to get a job but you can't get experience without getting a job!!
You can take the horse to water but you can't make it drink:
You can take someone to the party but you can't make them enjoy it!

🤣😂🤣

When I was a child, I read and owned lots of Enid Blyton books. On the front cover of some of them was the authors name printed in capital letters and on others, her name was written in a curly, handwriting style. I thought that the books with the handwriting style name on were by a completely different author called ‘Guid Button’ and, what’s more, I assumed that she must be the sister of Enid Blyton, as she wrote such similar style books! It was only as a young adult, returning home and looking at all the books in my old bookcase, that I realised my error!

I thought it said Guid Blyton too!

I was on 'tenderhooks'..... sooooooooooooooo many people say this, yet so wrong.

So the dad should have turned him away? 🤔 the son was sorry and wanted to make amends and the dad took him back and showed him love. I think that's a beautiful picture.

The moral of the parable is that the sinner is not condemned as God is always ready to forgive those who repent and return to him.