general Surprsing moments when you found out what a certain word means

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,393]

Language is a fascinating thing. There are thousands of languages out there, the human race comes up with a lot of random stuff. : o With that though, many cultures have their own languages, and their own words within these languages. Those who speak Enlgish in North America might have different words to sue than those in Britian. 

 

So with some words not existing in certain places, we may not know the exact meaning of them at first. Then we look it up, figure it out and sometimes, that can be a little strange or just in general, surprising. 

 

 

What were some of these moments for you? Have you had any moments where you found out what a certain word or phrase meant and it was surprising for you?

 

One I just figured out what the British term 'bellend' means...Definitely was not expecting that. I have seen some people use it as an insult and I had no idea what it meant. Now I do, and it is a bit awkward. XD 

[Sunwalker 981]

 

 

One I just figured out what the British term 'bellend' means...

 

Related to the word you learned, I had a similar moment just another day when I discovered what "priapism" meant

 

I wasn't expecting that and the word sounds funny too, now I just have to find a way to use it in a sentence

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,302]

As a young person, I heard the word menstruation before I actually knew what it meant.  I used the word menstruation before I actually knew what it meant.  I think I very nearly wrote the word menstruation on a paper in school (as an answer) before I realized what it meant.

 

Anyhow, I know what it means now. xD  *Wants to post The Kids in the Hall "Menstruation" sketch but probably can't.*  "Something you might not know about me is: That I have a good attitude towards menstruation.  That's right, I'm the guy; the guy with a good attitude towards menstruation."

[Meson Bolt 2,648]

I honestly didn't know what the word "penis" meant until I was about fourteen. Before that, I'd seen a penis joke in a comic book and started using it as a normal joke, saying "he looks like a giant penis" or something like that, without really knowing what it meant.

 

...Now I do, and I realize just how much of a penis I was.

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,302]

Before that, I'd seen a penis joke in a comic book and started using it as a normal joke, saying "he looks like a giant penis" or something like that, without really knowing what it meant.

I had to choke back a laugh at that; household's asleep. xD

 

There's an arguably profane Spanish word (that I won't use here) that - while it's seen in a variety of contexts - literally translates to "a pubic hair."  That's not how it's generally used, but that's what I discovered it means means.

[KatonRyu 1,033]

There's a Dutch word, 'lijzig', which I'd seen in books several times. Since it was almost always used to describe antagonists (in particular Malfoy from Harry Potter) I always assumed it meant something like 'sinister' or 'cold' (because 'ijzig' means 'icy') or something like it. It doesn't. It actually means 'dull'. My girlfriend told me this and I was shocked. Considering I'm pretentious as hell and my vocabulary is generally pretty extensive, she's still rubbing it in now, months (maybe even more than a year) after the fact.

 

Another occasion, though, more joyous to me than finding out the meaning of a word, is learning that there is a word for a certain concept, for which you never thought there'd be a word. Fillies and gentlecolts, I introduce you to the best word ever imagined: defenestration. The act of throwing something or someone out of a window. Honestly, I wish I could meet the genius mind who came up with that word. That guy (or woman) should be given the Nobel Prize for being awesome.

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,302]

Fillies and gentlecolts, I introduce you to the best word ever imagined: defenestration. The act of throwing something or someone out of a window. Honestly, I wish I could meet the genius mind who came up with that word. That guy (or woman) should be given the Nobel Prize for being awesome.

What a beautiful word. ; _ ;  I probably won't remember or ever use it, but I'm strangely glad that it's a word, all the same.

[KatonRyu 1,033]

What a beautiful word. ; _ ;  I probably won't remember or ever use it, but I'm strangely glad that it's a word, all the same.

 

I entirely understand your feeling. I felt like it had descended from above in a choir of angels, showing us what we truly needed in our lives. And they even have three historical events involving it: the Three Defenestrations of Prague.

Edited March 22, 2016 by KatonRyu

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,302]

the Three Defenestrations of Prague.

Had you not told me what the word meant beforehand, that sentence could have meant absolutely anything. xD

[Mario3D13 167]

That moment when I discovered Netflix and chill didn't ACTUALLY mean Netflix and chill.

 

Also, I kept saying deprecated without knowing what it actually meant.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,393]

Another occasion, though, more joyous to me than finding out the meaning of a word, is learning that there is a word for a certain concept, for which you never thought there'd be a word. Fillies and gentlecolts, I introduce you to the best word ever imagined: defenestration. The act of throwing something or someone out of a window. Honestly, I wish I could meet the genius mind who came up with that word. That guy (or woman) should be given the Nobel Prize for being awesome.

Never heard of this word in my life. : o Needless to say, it sounds pretty cool. XD For me that is like the word 'apogee'. That word is friggin amazing and for the longest time I had no idea of its meaning. It sounds really formal and neat. :3

[captainborgue 343]

I'm a native Spanish speaker, but my family speaks a dialect from Spain, which has different vernacular than the dialects where I live. When I was 8, I asked the woman at the grocers, in Spanish, where I could go to grab a cantaloupe. In my dialect, the verb "coger" means "to pick up" or "to grab". In the local dialects, it means "to have sex with".

 

I was 14 when I found out.

[Mario3D13 167]

I'm a native Spanish speaker, but my family speaks a dialect from Spain, which has different vernacular than the dialects where I live. When I was 8, I asked the woman at the grocers, in Spanish, where I could go to grab a cantaloupe. In my dialect, the verb "coger" means "to pick up" or "to grab". In the local dialects, it means "to have sex with".

 

I was 14 when I found out.

 

OMG That's so screwy. I'm also a native Spanish speaker (my parents are Hispanic), and I nearly flipped out when I saw that. What happened afterwards?

Another occasion, though, more joyous to me than finding out the meaning of a word, is learning that there is a word for a certain concept, for which you never thought there'd be a word. Fillies and gentlecolts, I introduce you to the best word ever imagined: defenestration. The act of throwing something or someone out of a window. Honestly, I wish I could meet the genius mind who came up with that word. That guy (or woman) should be given the Nobel Prize for being awesome.

 

I always wondered what that meant. It sounds so damn funny though!

[KatonRyu 1,033]

I'm a native Spanish speaker, but my family speaks a dialect from Spain, which has different vernacular than the dialects where I live. When I was 8, I asked the woman at the grocers, in Spanish, where I could go to grab a cantaloupe. In my dialect, the verb "coger" means "to pick up" or "to grab". In the local dialects, it means "to have sex with".

 

I was 14 when I found out.

 

This actually reminds me of the time the King of the Netherlands got into such a situation on an official meeting in Mexico. He was speaking in English but closed off with a Spanish proverb, which really shouldn't have been much of a problem since the Queen is from Argentina, but apparently an expression that is innocuous in most Spanish-speaking countries is very vulgar in Mexico:

 

Camarón que se duerme se lo lleva la chingada.

 

It apparently means "A sleeping shrimp drifts in the current", but in Mexico it means something like "A sleeping shrimp goes to hell." Cue everyone at the conference laughing and our King looking completely nonplussed.

[captainborgue 343]

Never heard of this word in my life. : o Needless to say, it sounds pretty cool. XD For me that is like the word 'apogee'. That word is friggin amazing and for the longest time I had no idea of its meaning. It sounds really formal and neat. :3

It's from the Defenestrations of Prague, or at least that's the earliest use I've found. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestrations_of_Prague

OMG That's so screwy. I'm also a native Spanish speaker (my parents are Hispanic), and I nearly flipped out when I saw that. What happened afterwards?

Got a funny look is all. I'm guessing the lady assumed she had misheard me lol!

Another good one is "backpfeifengesicht", which is roughly "a face badly in need of a fist".

[El Duderino 879]

I am terrible at keeping up with all of the texting abbreviations people use.

 

The other day my friend texted me "wyd"

I didn't know what that meant.

 

Another time, my friends tried to hook me up with someone and they told me I should "DM" her on Instagram. 

I had no clue what a direct message was.

 

Not my story, but I saw Will Ferrell on an Australian news show promoting Anchorman 2. He found out on live TV that "Fanny" does not mean the same thing in Australia as it does in America.

[LHfunk 422]

What's weird, is that it's not weird words for me. It'll be perfectly normal words for me like elevator and I'll just sort of freeze and think, "It's called an elevator because it elevates things!". Happens a lot.

[Wax n' Wane 103]

Recently, I didn't know what "teetotaler" meant.  When I first came across it, I thought it mean I loved Tea.  Technically, it was true and I held to it.  I later found it was actually a word for people who abstain from alcohol.  Once more, it was true.  

 

Things turned out better than expected.