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There are millions of words in languages and it is impossible to know every one of them. Even linguists, writers, and literary critics whose main object in their work is words and language didn't memorize whole dictionaries.
There are words that you would expect others to know, because they are just common sense knowledge. But there are words that are used more rarely in everyday conversations and this is where misunderstandings can happen. Twitter user @daynamcalpine_ actually went on date with a guy who thought she was a necrophiliac when, in reality, she meant she might have narcolepsy.
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#1
Happiness is Hippo 4 years ago
Me too, although no one has ever mistaken me for a necrophiliac!
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Marcellus the Third 4 years ago
Did you ask him how many of your mutual acquaintances he's sworn over the years that you're a necrophiliac, "she confessed it straight up!"?
Death Metal Kitty 4 years ago
In all fairness... this is a fairly uncommon disease, and while I wouldn't blame the guy, he could have at least clarified.
The twitter user Dayna McAlpine is a journalist writing about Scotland and food. She told a short story how she went on a date and mentioned that she thought she might have narcolepsy, which is a sleep disorder making people sleepy all the time and constantly tired. But the word can be easily confused with necrophilia because they sound similar. It has nothing to do with sleeping and actually is a crime in some places.
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#2
Laura Pantazis 4 years ago
I think he knew what monogamous meant. The answer "I don't want things to get boring," is sometimes why a person doesn't want a monogamous relationship. When the boyfriend saw her reaction, he probably went along with the save that she offered him.
Malwin Wellham 4 years ago (edited)
Sounds like he meant what he said the first time, but took the easy way out of it, which you offered.
#3
fuggnuggins 4 years ago (edited)
That's not actually what fetish means and if I was one of those waiters it'd be more like "Yeah funny ha ha you're shitfaced off one shandy hurry up and tell us what you DO want, we have customers."
Tobias the Tiger 4 years ago
To be fair, I have heard stories of people thinking "fetish" was another word for "interest".
fuggnuggins 4 years ago (edited)
Can be a strong like. Maybe you have a fetish for chocolate. Could be a strong connection. If a ghost were to haunt a particular object or place, you could say that that is its fetish. Could be an obsession. Magpie (Australian) swoops aggressively, often targeting a type of thing more often, like maybe bikes with flags, people with helmets, people who run. What it targets consistently is the magpie's fetish. It's a fairly versatile word. The sexual meaning is just the only context that a lot of people hear it in, so they might not realise or might just make that connection quickly.
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The tweet got nearly 70k likes and in general people were just laughing or confused how the date reacted so calmly when he heard that she is attracted to dead bodies. Some people shared a few of their own stories about others misunderstanding words or not knowing the true meanings of them.
#4
glowworm2 4 years ago
Animal husbandry does kind of sound like that though. It's an odd term to be honest.
Robert T 4 years ago (edited)
One of my relatives is down on a census as "husbandman" in the 19th century. This does not mean he is a stay at home husband, it means he looks after the animals.
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Laura Nicole 4 years ago
Mum overheard a conversation that I was having once and the "blue waffle" happened to come up and mum was like "oh yes, a blue waffle sounds delicious, blueberries and cream" and I had to explain what a blue waffle was between outbursts of laughter.
Bama Belle 4 years ago
My teen self told my mom I wanted to be a roadie. She thought I meant groupie.
Theoretical Empiricist 4 years ago
As long as it's a loving and mutually supportive and respectful relationship, I don't care who you marry.
#5
Daniel Marsh 4 years ago
Isn't anyone else going to point out that "claustrophobic" isn't the right word, either? At best, it's an ill-fitting and clumsy metaphor.
Mosarat Ahmed 4 years ago
Guess he just needed some 'space' .(Sorry for the pun, I couldn't help it )
Mosarat Ahmed 4 years ago
Seriously, that was a bad pun and I sincerely apologise for exposing everyone to that
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Ryan Deschanel 4 years ago
When I mean "someone who is not homophobic", I just use the term "a decent person".
Analyn Lahr 4 years ago
Maybe she reads gay erotica as well, watches gay porn...it could happen.
Mosarat Ahmed 4 years ago
I mean ... that is definitely not homophobic... so I guess she's right
sylvanticx 4 years ago
hmmm homophilic? that could work, but it implies that you only love ppl who are the same as you.
#7
It is hard to count how many words a person knows but there are tests which can help to estimate that number. UPI studied the results of one million test-takers and they came to the conclusion that “native English-speaking Americans know an average of at least 42,000 words by the time they turn 20 years old.”
This research was conducted in 2016 and with it we found out that a person knows more words than previously thought as in 2013 The Economist said that this number is about 20,000–35,000 words. But people don’t use their whole vocabulary everyday and 20,000 words is what is sufficient for normal communication. Which is really not that many when you know that there are about 170,000 current words listed in the Oxford English Dictionary and the most recent printing of Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language has more than 476,000 vocabulary entries
#8
Diane Aguilar 4 years ago
Brings new meaning to the saying, "My you have a big nose, Grandma!"
#9
Miranda Meehan 4 years ago
I'm not convinced the OP didn't read the banner incorrectly. I've seen a banner that uses the proper word.
#10
Martz Migraña 4 years ago
Reminds me of a friend that wanted to be a teacher for special needs kids, like "Baptists kids". She meant "autistic" (in Spanish "bautista" and "autista")
Words can be confusing and everyone has a different set of them they use actively and know passively, so it’s better not to assume what someone meant if you’re aren’t sure of the meaning of the word. However, it is still a great source of very funny situations.
Which of these made you laugh the most? Do you have any stories of when someone didn’t know the meaning of the word and it led to a funny situation? Maybe it was you who always thought a word has a different meaning than the dictionary says? Share it in the comments below!
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What do you think ?
Ryan Deschanel 4 years ago
I was a very young child when I had to leave school early to go to the doctor's. I don't remember what was supposed to happen, but I said I was going to have an "autopsy".
Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
This article underscores the need for English speakers to learn Greek and Latin word forms. Knowing these has been invaluable to me in deciphering unfamiliar words.
Miss Frankfurter 4 years ago (edited)
Greek, ok. I went to Catholic school. Latin makes my head explode and I barf at the same time, followed by a blood curdling scream. "Tell me honestly. How do you really feel about learning Latin?"
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Moosy Girl 4 years ago
Someone once told me they’d had a vasectomy and I insisted that I’d had one too once when I was a little girl. Turns out it’s more common for little girls to have had a *tonsillectomy*. >.<
Marcellus the Third 4 years ago
I'm a bit confused that almost half are about the word "necrophilia". It's... rather uncommon I'd have assumed, both as word and as habit?
Katy McMouse 4 years ago
My brother once told my mum he was thinking of having a vasectomy, except he couldn't think of the word and said "you know what I'm talking about - the word that means getting my tubes tied".
Casey McAlister 4 years ago
Yeah, once I told somebody I'm attracted to both women and men and they said "oh, so you are bipolar!"
Jane Alexander 4 years ago
A nurse told my friend they were going to test her for 'old timers' disease.
Axolotl King 4 years ago
Ok so my brother has problems pooping, but when he first went to the hospital they thought he might have appendicitis. We figured out it's gluten that causes his stomach aches and constipation, but he misheard appendicitis and so he always asks if foods will give him "arthritis"
s. vitkovitsky 4 years ago
Well, there are some foods that make arthritis feel worse, so he's half right ...?
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marianne eliza 4 years ago
Big brother was learning Kung Fu. Mom had to go to specialty shop to buy him a gi. She went up to the Asian-Am salesman and asked for a gook. Bless her heart.
Ryan Deschanel 4 years ago
I was a very young child when I had to leave school early to go to the doctor's. I don't remember what was supposed to happen, but I said I was going to have an "autopsy".
Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
This article underscores the need for English speakers to learn Greek and Latin word forms. Knowing these has been invaluable to me in deciphering unfamiliar words.
Miss Frankfurter 4 years ago (edited)
Greek, ok. I went to Catholic school. Latin makes my head explode and I barf at the same time, followed by a blood curdling scream. "Tell me honestly. How do you really feel about learning Latin?"
Load More Replies... Moosy Girl 4 years ago
Someone once told me they’d had a vasectomy and I insisted that I’d had one too once when I was a little girl. Turns out it’s more common for little girls to have had a *tonsillectomy*. >.<
Marcellus the Third 4 years ago
I'm a bit confused that almost half are about the word "necrophilia". It's... rather uncommon I'd have assumed, both as word and as habit?
Katy McMouse 4 years ago
My brother once told my mum he was thinking of having a vasectomy, except he couldn't think of the word and said "you know what I'm talking about - the word that means getting my tubes tied".
Casey McAlister 4 years ago
Yeah, once I told somebody I'm attracted to both women and men and they said "oh, so you are bipolar!"
Jane Alexander 4 years ago
A nurse told my friend they were going to test her for 'old timers' disease.
Axolotl King 4 years ago
Ok so my brother has problems pooping, but when he first went to the hospital they thought he might have appendicitis. We figured out it's gluten that causes his stomach aches and constipation, but he misheard appendicitis and so he always asks if foods will give him "arthritis"
s. vitkovitsky 4 years ago
Well, there are some foods that make arthritis feel worse, so he's half right ...?
Load More Replies... marianne eliza 4 years ago
Big brother was learning Kung Fu. Mom had to go to specialty shop to buy him a gi. She went up to the Asian-Am salesman and asked for a gook. Bless her heart.
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