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Funny word misunderstandings

Suzette

Suzette

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
Do you ever hear a word and misunderstand that word in a funny way?
Just now I hear "grapple" and thought I was going to get a news story on a new hybrid of grapes and apples. :p
 
As a precocious child I once mentioned "defecation of character" in a conversation with my parents.

They quickly explained to me that I was using the wrong word. It happens. :p
 
When I was a kid, my father would was using the word "switchback" to describe the western US road we were driving on. He also liked the word "sweatbox". I got a laugh when I honestly exclaimed "it's not that hot here" when he had said "switchback".
 
My then girlfriend's six year old daughter once sternly told me, "Boys go pee. Girls go tinkle." :rolleyes:
 
This is very silly but when I was a kid I heard someone on tv talk about Yosemite national park. They pronounced it Yo-se-mite, not sure if anyone understands what I mean, just try to pronounce it completely wrong. It was a joke but I did not know it was a joke. So for a long time I thought it was called Yo-se-mite. I was so surprised when I one day heard someone say Yosemite.
 
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Forest Cat said:
This is very silly but when I was a kid I heard someone on tv talk about Yosemite national park. They pronounced it Yo-sem-ity, not sure if anyone understands what I mean, just try to pronounce it completely wrong. It was a joke but I did not know it was a joke. So for a long time I thought it was called Yo-sem-ity.
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Not silly at all. You'd be surprised how many people mispronounce that one. ;)

"Yoze-might"? o_O :p


But then there are all kinds of words- and names (and slang) in various languages that have very different meanings in other langauges. AWKWARD! :oops:

Made me wonder if singer/actor Fanny Brice ever visited Ireland. :eek:
 
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The mispronunciation that I remember is grand pricks(grands Prix)even then I was very insecure about being mocked then I eventually got very slightly less insecure now I know I just couldn't understand sarcasm
 
A common one around the hospital: A piece of equipment we use to measure oxygen in the blood is called a pulse oximeter. The number it reads on the monitor is called the oxygen saturation,...for short,..."sats". "Your oxygen sat is 96%".

Another term we use is STAT, in capital letters,...generally meaning something emergent and needs intervention right now. "There is a STAT intubation in the Emergency Department."

Well,...for some reason, especially the general public and even some people in training in hospital will often say something like, "...and his STATs were 96%" Which often is received with a bit of humor.
 
Neonatal RRT said:
Well,...for some reason, especially the general public and even some people in training in hospital will often say something like, "...and his STATs were 96%" Which often is received with a bit of humor.
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I'm ok with that. As long as the medical personnel around me doesn't talk like Geordie La Forge. :p

Otherwise I might have to interject and ask for some Dilithium Crystals with an H2O chaser. :rolleyes:
 
Forest Cat said:
This is very silly but when I was a kid I heard someone on tv talk about Yosemite national park. They pronounced it Yo-se-mite, not sure if anyone understands what I mean, just try to pronounce it completely wrong. It was a joke but I did not know it was a joke. So for a long time I thought it was called Yo-se-mite. I was so surprised when I one day heard someone say Yosemite.
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I love this one! Trump once mispronounced Yosemite that way and it was picked up by Jewish protestors. They created t-shirts proudly proclaiming "Yo Semite!" Yo Semite T-shirt
 
Neonatal RRT said:
Well,...for some reason, especially the general public and even some people in training in hospital will often say something like, "...and his STATs were 96%" Which often is received with a bit of humor
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Anyone ever dead pan "it would be a greater concern if his sat was zero" :p
 
Was watching the movie "The Right Stuff" the other day. Reminded me of the German scientists trying to explain ideas for a future space shot. Where one tried to explain to the Vice President (Lyndon Johnson) about sending a speci-man into orbit.

A frustrated VP replies, "Speci-man"? Space-man?"
Scientist: "Yes, Mr. Vice President. A jimp!"
Johnson: "What's a jimp???"
Scientist: "A jimp. A jim-pan-zee!"

Oddly enough the German scientist was played by American actor Scott Beach. And Texan Lyndon Johnson was brilliantly played by English actor Donald Moffat. :p

Too bad both of them weren't in the movie, "Cool Hand Luke". - "What we have here, is failure to communicate!"
 
This thread reminds me of the old joke of England and America divided by a common language. I got quite a chuckle when in GB referring to something I was wearing as a Fanny Pack.
 
Gerald Wilgus said:
This thread reminds me of the old joke of England and America divided by a common language. I got quite a chuckle when in GB referring to something I was wearing as a Fanny Pack.
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Oops. :oops:

Sounds like it may mean the same thing in Britspeak that it does in Norn Iron.
 
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