5 Words That Dont Mean What You Think They Mean

5 Words That Don't Mean What You Think They Mean You keep using that word, Inigo Montoya says to Vizzini in The Princess Bride. I do not think it means what you think it means. The word that Vizzini so frequently misuses in the film is inconceivable. But its not hard to imagine other words that hold different meanings for different people. Meanings that may even be contradictory- literally so. Of course, its not unusual for word meanings to change  over time. Some words (such as nice, which once meant silly or ignorant) even reverse their connotations. Whats especially intriguing- and often perplexing- is to observe such changes in our own time. To show you what we mean, lets take a look at five words that may not mean what you think they mean: literally, fulsome, ravel, peruse, and plethora. Literally Meaningless? In contrast to  figuratively, the adverb literally means in a literal or strict sense- word for word. But many speakers have a habit of using the word quite unliterally as an intensifier. Take this example from a speech given by former Vice President Joe Biden: The next president of the United States is going to be delivered to the most significant moment in American history since Franklin Roosevelt. He will have such an incredible opportunity not only to change the direction of America but literally, literally to change the direction of the world.(Senator Joseph Biden, speaking in Springfield, Illinois, August 23, 2008) Although most dictionaries recognize the contrary uses of the word, many usage authorities (and SNOOTs) argue that the hyperbolic sense of literally has eroded its literal meaning. Full of Fulsome If your boss showers you with fulsome praise, dont presume that a promotion is in the works. Understood in its traditional sense of offensively flattering or insincere, fulsome has decidedly negative connotations. But in recent years, fulsome has picked up the more complimentary meaning of full, generous, or abundant. So is one definition more correct or appropriate than the other?Guardian Style (2007), the usage guide for writers on Englands Guardian newspaper, describes fulsome as another example of a word that is almost never used correctly. The adjective means cloying, excessive, disgusting by excess, says editor David Marsh, and is not, as some appear to believe, a clever word for full.Nevertheless, both senses of the word appear regularly in the pages of the Guardian- and just about everywhere else. Tributes, praise, and apologies are often characterized as fulsome without a hint of sarcasm or ill will. But in a book review for The Independent in which Jan Morris described the mistress of Lord Nelson as grotesque, obese and fulsome, we sense she had in mind the older meaning of the word. Having it both ways can lead to confusion. When an economics reporter for Time magazine recalls fulsome times, does he simply mean a prosperous era or is he passing judgment on an age of self-indulgent excess? As for the New York Times writer who gushed over a building with great banks of metal windows, set in a rich screen of glazed terra cotta, particularly fulsome on the second floor, exactly what he meant is anybodys guess. Unraveling the Meaning of Raveling If the verb  unravel means to unknot, unscramble, or untangle, its only logical to assume that ravel must mean the opposite- to tangle or complicate. Right?Well, yes and no. You see, ravel is both an antonym and a synonym for unravel. Derived from the Dutch word for a loose thread, ravel can mean either to tangle or untangle, to complicate or clarify. That makes ravel an example of a Janus word- a word (like sanction or wear) that has opposite or contradictory meanings.And that probably helps to explain why ravel is so rarely used: you never know if its coming together or falling apart. Perusing a New Janus Word Another Janus word is the verb  peruse. Since the Middle Ages, peruse has meant to read or examine, usually with great care: perusing a document means studying it carefully. Then a funny thing happened. Some people starting using peruse as a synonym for skim or scan or read quickly- the opposite of its traditional meaning. Most editors still reject this novel usage, dismissing it (in Henry Fowlers phrase) as a slipshod extension- that is, stretching a word beyond its conventional meanings.But keep an eye on your dictionary, for as weve seen, this is one of the ways in which language changes. If enough people continue to stretch the meaning of peruse, the inverted definition may eventually supplant the traditional one. A Plethora of Piatas In this scene from the 1986 film  ¡Three Amigos!,  the villainous character El Guapo is talking with Jefe, his right-hand man: Jefe: I have put many beautiful pià ±atas in the storeroom, each of them filled with little surprises.El Guapo: Many pià ±atas?Jefe: Oh yes, many!El Guapo: Would you say I have a plethora of pià ±atas?Jefe: A what?El Guapo: A plethora.Jefe: Oh yes, you have a plethora.El Guapo: Jefe, what is a plethora?Jefe: Why, El Guapo?El Guapo: Well, you told me I have a plethora. And I just would like to know if you know what a plethora is. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has no idea what it means to have a plethora.Jefe: Forgive me, El Guapo. I know that I, Jefe, do not have your superior intellect and education. But could it be that once again, you are angry at something else, and are looking to take it out on me?(Tony Plana and Alfonso Arau as Jefe and El Guapo in  ¡Three Amigos!, 1986) Regardless of his motive, El Guapo asks a fair question: just what is a plethora? As it turns out, this Greek and Latin hand-me-down is an example of a word that has undergone amelioration- that is, an upgrade in meaning from a negative sense to a neutral or favorable connotation. At one time plethora meant an overabundance or unhealthy excess of something (too many pià ±atas). Now its commonly used as a non-judgmental synonym for a large quantity (a lot of pià ±atas).