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!

It’s just taken me a while too !

We have several doors at work with signs on saying
'this door must be kept closed at all times'
Well how the heck am I going to leave the room then ?

😲

No, it really is "toe the line".
I think (like you I'm happy to be corrected) it originates from athletes waiting to race, obediently keeping their toe on the start line.
If you think about how it's used in context, when have you read somebody using the phrase to mean all pull together/ pull in the same direction to get the desired result?
Try searching it on Mumsnet. Even when they spell it wrongly posters use the phrase to mean being obedient.

@DeanStockwell

I'm more awake now and just tried searching the phrase "tow the line" on Mumsnet as I suggested.
It's only slightly helpful because most of the results seem to be pointing out that "tow the line" should be "toe the line" rather than explaining why "tow the line" is incorrect.
So, not my best suggestion!

Ah thankyou for the explanation, I do wonder if it would of been easier to take all the swords from the silly buggers rather than hope that they 'Toe the line' 😁

I’ve never ‘heard’ that before. Now I can I hear it.

I used to think it was tow the line as in horses towing barges.

That they were under control & doing as they were told!

I knew toe the line wasn't anything to do with Parliament (I think the red lines were put in after WW2 and so nothing to do with sword lengths etc), but I always thought it was a boxing term. Learnt it's a naval term from this thread!

Ah! A bit like "You for coffee" or tea? 😆

Never knew this.

😆😆😆😆

SNAFU is another one of military origin.

A bit like pub quiz teams round here calling themselves Norfolk'n'good.

ah ha! it's such a skill to be able to understand and summarise what people mean succinctly! they'd posted about 5 times trying to clarify and I still didn't have a clue what they were on about but that now makes sense, thanks.

Or Hoof Hearted, which I saw at a quiz once.

Whale Oil Beef Hooked.

I spent years quite innocently referring to "lead in your pencil" without realising what is meant. I thought I was talking about being spritely or having a spring in one's step, nothing more than that🍆

I'm going to mention this one as you see it so often and it drives me potty:

'Reign it in'. Wrong. It is not 'reign' but 'rein'.

It is an equestrian term. You pull on a horse's reins to slow down or come to a halt.

It does mean that.

My mum had an airing cupboard that was always overflowing with towels and bedding. She used to call it her ‘glory hole.’ Recently I used the phrase to describe our understairs shoe cupboard… My partner looked at me as if to say eh?? He asked me what I meant. So I told him. So he told me. It’s definitely not an overflowing airing cupboard. Or shoe cupboard!

You're both right! 🤪
Dictionary
Definitions from <a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwjtzb3crJCRAxXhVUEAHbBYNbQQvecEegQIJRAJ&usg=AOvVaw2SKMSCJ3ZXZU7jpu6ekCM9" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Oxford Languages
glory hole

noun
1.
informal
an untidy room or cupboard used for storage.
2.
informal
a hole in a wall, especially in a public toilet, through which fellatio or masturbation is conducted incognito.

Decimated

In a sexual way yes. Not just sprightly.

It means what you want it to mean. It can be that someone has energy and drive or it can mean a man's erections are good and strong.