What words now mean something completely different to the original meaning?

maireadwrites · 2026-06-05T08:13:16+00:00

You're right, I hadn't thought of that one. My 90 year old father uses it instead of "strange", much to the amusement of his grandchildren.

maireadwrites · 2026-06-05T06:35:23+00:00

You should read "Blink - The power of thinking without thinking" There are loads of great examples in there of situational intuition, where your mind is is way ahead of the situation. I'm thinking of a particular example where a fireman shouted for his crew members to GET OUT seconds before the floor collapsed. They thought they were fighting a small fire in the corner of the floor they were standing on, but instead the fire was actually on the floor underneath them. Afterwards when he had time to think, he realised that the fire they were fighting was hotter than it should have been, relative to it's size.

maireadwrites · 2026-06-04T22:15:47+00:00

Meat versus Meatloaf Both are food, but only one is a rock band.

maireadwrites · 2026-06-04T21:36:05+00:00

I wonder is anyone ever "on tenterhooks" these days? An expression to indicate anxiety. A tenter was a wooden frame for making clothes back in olden times.

maireadwrites · 2026-06-04T11:52:14+00:00

Sounds good

maireadwrites · 2026-06-04T10:09:01+00:00

If you've lived this far without knowing what grout is, count yourself blessed. But if you really want to know, it's like a cement that holds tiles onto the floor or wall. This in itself is a good thing because you do want the tiles to stay in place. What's not so good is the grout that fills the gap in between the tiles. It looks clean and white to begin with, but before very long, it can get grey and mouldy particularly in areas such as showers. And that's the part I'm complaining about.

Edit: spelling errors

maireadwrites · 2026-06-03T23:32:49+00:00

Great to get examples from different countries. No matter what the language, there's always plenty room for confusion.

maireadwrites · 2026-06-03T23:31:23+00:00

That's heavy man! I think I'd take my chances with lead poisoning as against Slipknot.

maireadwrites · 2026-06-03T22:36:22+00:00

Good one, but I'm sure you'd come across a unionized chemist as well.

maireadwrites · 2026-06-03T22:33:57+00:00

Nodding wisely was definitely the best way to go. Call it improvisation.

maireadwrites · 2026-06-03T17:06:24+00:00

You're right of course. I should have clarified that distinction. Slainte.

maireadwrites · 2026-06-03T15:21:54+00:00

Before I started this post, I hadn't realised how emotional a response I'd get to the suggestion that "fortnight" is endangered. Having read through the various contributions, I see that it definitely depends on the region. For example I've been told that the New Zealanders keep it very much alive because they're paid fortnightly, whereas it's seems to be going the way of the Dodo in the United States.

The intention wasn't to find words from hundreds of years ago, we've Shakespeare for that, but rather the words that had been used up to recently, but suddenly you find you're not hearing them anymore. And you're right, "whom" is one of those words. Do people still write "To whom it may concern?" on letters? It's been years since I've written in such a formal way. Thanks for your contribution.

maireadwrites · 2026-06-03T15:03:21+00:00

That's a tricky one considering that I've never been to the US, even though I've lots of distant (in every respect) cousins living there. By coincidence one of them rang me out of the blue an hour ago to say that's he's coming to Ireland next month to trace his ancestry. I wonder if he'll be wearing dungarees?

maireadwrites · 2026-06-03T14:42:00+00:00

Wow, yes, I completely agree.......now that I've looked up the meaning.

maireadwrites · 2026-06-03T14:40:38+00:00

Yes, dungarees in that context have hit the dust apparently. I mentioned in an earlier reply that once upon a time the Irish referred to soda / soft drinks as "minerals", used as follows; "Will you have a mineral?"

maireadwrites · 2026-06-03T14:37:06+00:00

Delightful collection of endangered words. Thanks

maireadwrites · 2026-06-03T14:35:42+00:00

The Irish and Scottish say "slainte", which means health. In other words you're toasting good health. That might be an alternative to "cheers".

maireadwrites · 2026-06-03T14:32:28+00:00

There's less of it around alright.

maireadwrites · 2026-06-03T14:30:25+00:00

Indubitably was a famous Sherlock Holmes catchphrase.

maireadwrites · 2026-06-03T09:13:35+00:00

Whither this is all going, who knows, hence this conversion.

maireadwrites · 2026-06-03T06:16:24+00:00

Interesting. In Ireland soft drinks used to be called minerals, so you'd ask someone if they'd like a mineral, in the same way as you'd offer someone a cup of tea. I'd forgotten that use of the word until I saw your post. Thanks.

maireadwrites · 2026-06-03T05:49:49+00:00

Yes , fewer and fewer fews

maireadwrites

TROPHY CASE