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1 Irony
What you think it means: Something that is funny. J(rn)~ĺxǣ¡
What it really means: Contrary to what you are expecting.~xǣcԸ` This is a famous one because so many people get this wrong so often. It’s also kind of hard to explain, so we’ll use an example. The Titanic was boasted about as being 100% unsinkable and then in 1912 it was sunk anyway. That is what is called cosmic irony. When a starving vegetarian eats a pepperoni pizza, that is what is called situational irony.
@һ(g)͵Ć~?yn)?jng)ec(din)y҂߀ef̩̹̖̖Q100%]1912߀]@ͽ“淴S”Ҫij(g)Iòеʳ̲סˉKc_Ǿͽ“龳S”
There are other kinds too, such as dramatic irony and Socratic irony. Believe it or not, sarcasm is actually irony. When you say something sarcastically, your tone and your words mean two opposite things. That is ironic. Irony can be funny but not everything funny is irony.
(dng)Ȼ߀“ϲʽS”“KʽS”Ųirony䌍(sh)sarcasm(S)һ(g)˼(dng)fijºS̕r(sh)Z{(dio)~ڱ_(d)ȫ෴ăɷNr@ironic(S)Sǻл¶ԷQ“S”
2 Travesty
What you think it means: A tragedy or something unfortunate. J(rn)~ĺxǣҵ¡
What it really means: A mockery or parody. ~xǣӵģ» This is another one that people have wrong fairly frequently. You've heard people call 9/11 a travesty. Truth be told 9/11 was a tragedy. A travesty is actually a mockery or a parody. One might say that a Weird Al Yankovic album is a travesty. With how often this word is associated with tragedy, we wouldn't be shocked if that definition were eventually added as an acceptable meaning. Until then, it doesn't mean anything bad happened.
@Ҳ˂(jng)eһ(g)~˰9.11¼ftravesty䌍(sh)fǂ(g)tragedy()Travesty䌍(sh)ָӵģ»㡣f?P(yng)ƾSČtravesty()btravesty@(g)~DZ˂tragedy()SԺtravestyҲܼ“”ĺx^Ŀǰֹ@(g)~“õ”ȫP(gun)ϵ
3 Ultimate
What you think it means: The one, the only. The best. J(rn)~ĺxǣij(g)Ψһõ
What it really means: The last item of a list. ~xǣбеһ(xing) Some people do actually use this one properly. You may see someone list off a bunch of things and hear them say, “Okay, at the store we need eggs, milk, juice, and ultimately, butter.” That is actually the proper use of ultimate. There is no other context or added context. It simply means the last one.
_(sh)Ҳ܉_ʹ@(g)~S^eˌһІȻ f“……҂Ҫȥ̵Ic(din)uţ̡֭(ultimately)߀S͡”@ultimate_ʹ÷@ﲻ(ni)ݻa(b)(ni)ultimateͱʾ“һ(g)”
4 Conversate
What you think it means: To have a conversation. J(rn)~ĺxǣM(jn)нՄ
What it really means: Nothing. ~xǣ]@(g)~ Conversate actually doesn’t exist and I’ll prove it to you. Go into a program that underlines words with red if they’re spelled wrong. Now type out conversate. Did you see the red line? Conversate was meant to be a mixture of conversation and converse and be used as a verb. However, converse is a verb and there really isn’t a need for a second verb to describe the same action.
Conversate@(g)~䌍(sh)Dzڵ@ҿC҂(g)ܘ(bio)te`ƴijȻݔconversate@(g)~㑪(yng)ԓܿ@(g)~(bio)˼tɫ?conversate(yng)ԓconversation(Մ)converse(Մ)Ļ~~DŽ~ǣconverse(Մ)DŽ~͛]Ҫһ(g)~ͬһ(g)Оˡ
5 Peruse
What you think it means: To skim or browse. J(rn)~ĺxǣx?yn)g[
What it really means: To observe in depth. ~xǣ^졣 When you peruse something, you are actually taking a very close look at it. When you're at a record store and you're just running through a stack of records, you are just browsing. If you pick up a record and look at the artist, track list, and additional information on the back, then your are perusing.
(dng)peruse(^)ijr(sh)f㿴÷dzм(x)O(sh)ڳƬ괩^һŵijƬǾ“g[”һƬ鿴ˇg(sh)Ŀ䛺ϢǾͽperuse(^)
6 Bemused
What you think it means: Amused. J(rn)~ĺxǣ
What it really means: Confused. ~xǣġ This is one of the many words on this list that will make you strongly dislike the English language. Despite looking all but identical to the word amused, bemused doesn't even come close to meaning the same thing. If you are bemused then you are actually confused.
@(g)~ܱ“s”ӑӢZԭ֮һMbemused()ƴϸamused()@ɂ(g)~ĺxsһbemusedf䌍(sh)
7 Compelled
What you think it means: To do something voluntarily by choice. J(rn)~ĺxǣ־Ըxij
What it really means: To be forced or obligated to doing something. ~xǣȻx(w)ij¡ This is one that people get wrong and it's rather understandable. The real definition is very close to the definition people generally use. The difference is the motivation. When people say compelled, they think the person wants to perform the action. In fact, they are forced to do it regardless of their personal feelings. Here's an example. When you're in court, you are compelled to give honest testimony. You may not want to, but it doesn't matter because you have to.
@(g)~˂e䌍(sh)Ҳпԭ挍(sh)x˂ͨ`õĺxܽӽ^(q)eڄәC(j)(dng)fcompelled()r(sh)˂ԞfԒij(sh)HfԒ`wȥijµe(g)ڳͥr(sh)compelled()猍(sh)CģﲻԸֻ@ô
8 Nauseous
What you think it means: To feel ill. J(rn)~ĺxǣX
What it really means: To cause feelings of illness. ~xǣ˲ġ This is another understandable mishap that a lot of people make. If you actually feel sick then you are nauseated. The object that made you feel ill is nauseous. Here’s how this works. If you're at an amusement park and you’re sitting next to a full trash can, the fumes from the trash may make you feel ill. That means the fumes from the trash can are nauseous because they are making you feel nauseated.
Se@(g)~Ҳпԭеônauseated(I)еĖ|nauseous(I)ՈO(sh)Θ@һ(g)MMͰ߅ͰðğFе@fͰðğFnauseous(I)?yn)еnauseated(I)
9 Redundant
What you think it means: Repetitive. J(rn)~ĺxǣ؏(f)
What it really means: Unnecessarily excessive. ~xǣ^ʣ This one is tough because you can use it wrong but unintentionally use it right. When you repeat something a bunch of times, it can become redundant, but redundant expands far beyond just repeating things over and over. A popular thing companies are doing now is firing people but instead of calling it “getting fired,” they call it “eliminating redundancies.” The premise being that the employee they’re firing is unnecessary and excessive and they are thus eliminating them. In pretty much any scenario where there is simply too much of something, it is redundant.
@(g)~c(din)(f)s?yn)ܿesҲһʲôr(sh)Ì(dng)㲻؏(f)ijºܶκܾ͕׃redundant()redundant@(g)~˼h(yun)ֹ“؏(f)”(dng)¹˾нƸ͆Tf“~”ǷQ֮“ÆT”;ǰõĆTǿпɟoġ@ӾͿԲõˡںܶrij̫̫ʣǾredundant()
10 Enormity
What you think it means: Huge, enormous. J(rn)~ĺxǣģ
What it really means: Profoundly immoral or evil. ~xǣO䲻µĻа Don't beat yourself up over this one because no one knows this one off the top of their head. Enormity sounds like enormous and as with many of our other examples, here we expect words that sound alike to have similar meanings. Enormity simply means really evil. An example of how to use it is the following: “The enormity of the crimes committed by the Nazis in World War II.” It doesn't mean the enormous crimes, it means the heinous crimes.
Ҫ?yn)e@(g)~؟(z)?yn)]ܲ˼֪@(g)~Enormity(FO)İl(f)enormous()^ǰ^Sһڰl(f)ƵĆ~˂ҲJ(rn)˼ҲһEnormityָ“Oа”e(g)Ӂfʹ@(g)~“{ڶ(zhn)зµenormity(FO)”fenormous()Уָʮ
11 Terrific
What you think it means: Fantastic, good. J(rn)~ĺxǣOOõ
What it really means: Horrific, to inspire fear. ~xǣɲ˺µ This is another one that we expect will be changed in the dictionary eventually because barely anyone uses the real meaning anymore. When people say they feel terrific, they mean to say they feel fantastic. An example of something terrific is King Kong. You see a giant monster and it inspires fear. We're going to loop awesome in with this one too. Awesome simply means to inspire awe and people often use it to describe something really good.
҂J(rn)@(g)~ĺxԺҲ~ӆ?yn)F(xin)ڎ]˕ȥʹx(dng)˂fXterrific(ֲ)r(sh)ָXfantastic(ØO)ǵ͵terrific(ɲ)?yn)Ǿ֣˸е֑ڴ혱ffawesome@(g)~Awesomeָ“˸е@”F(xin)˂@(g)~ĕr(sh)Ҫָ“ijºØO”
13 Disinterested
What you think it means: Bored. Ԟ~ĺxǣoȤ
What it really means: Neutral. ~xǣ A good way to remember this one is that there is a word that means bored and it's uninterested. If you're uninterested, you're bored. Being disinterested is the long-form equivalent of stating that you don't care about something.
Ҫӛס@(g)~Ђ(g)kDŽeѽ(jng)һ(g)~ʾ“oȤ”——@(g)~uninteresteduninterested(dȤ)Ȼ“oȤ”DisinterestedDZʾ“ij²P(gun)”һ(g)~
14 Irregardless
What you think it means: Without regard. Ԟ~ĺxǣ
What it really means: Nothing. ~xǣҲDzڵ Like conversate above, irregardless isn't actually a word. When people say irregardless, they actually mean to say regardless. Regardless means without regard. Irregardless has been used so often that it actually is in the dictionary now and that's kind of sad. Even though it is technically there, there are a large number of people who don't consider it a word. You can save yourself a couple of keystrokes and a tongue lashing by just using regardless.
ǰconversateһirregardless@(g)~䌍(sh)Ҳ(dng)˂firregardlessr(sh)䌍(sh)fregardlessRegardlessָ“”IrregardlessһֱlʹԬF(xin)ڴ_(sh)Ҳ{~@oΰ!^Mֵռһϯܶ˲Xǂ(g)~Ȼregardlessα߀ҪÎIPl(f)һ(g)M(fi)?
15 Chronic
What you think it means: Severe. Ԟ~ĺxǣҵ
What it really means: Over the course of a long time. ~xǣvr(sh)Lõ This is definitely one that people ought to know better. When you have severe pain, it is just severe pain. If you have chronic pain, you have been in pain for a long, long time. Chronic conditions and diseases are called chronic because they won't go away and not because they're overly severe.
˂^Ҫú˽@(g)~ĺxO(sh)ܵʹֻDŽʹchronic(Ե)ʹɵúܾúܾõس@ʹԠrͼ֮chronic(Ե)?yn)fO(yn)
16 i.e.
What you think it means: For example. Ԟ~ĺxǣ
What it really means: In other words. ~xǣQԒf This is one among a number of shortened words that confuse people. Here's a quick guide on how to use them. Et cetera is etc., example is ex. or e.g., and in other words is i.e. When you use i.e. you're essentially putting it there to let people know that you're going to be stating the same information in different words. Here's how it really works. It's June and I moved into my new apartment in April, i.e., two months ago.
@һ(g)oĿs~ͺظVʹEt cetera(Դ)Ŀs~etc.example()Ŀs~ex.e.g.in other words(QԒf)Ŀs~i.e.ʹi.e.ͱʾړQòͬ~ͬһ(g)ϢǾw÷F(xin)·ݰM(jn)¹Ԣi.e.(QԒf)ɂ(g)ǰ
17 Decimate
What you think it means: To destroy or annihilate Ԟ~ĺxǣĻ
What it really means: To destroy ten percent. ~xǣ10% This one is really goofy and one day this won't be true. For the time being, decimate actually means removing only ten percent of something. If you know a little bit about words it's not difficult to figure out. The prefix “dec” means ten. However, the traditional definition of this word is antiquated and it'll probably be changed eventually. Until then, it's technically correct to use a word like exterminate or annihilate instead.
@(g)~c(din)eŤSԺ͛]ˡ^F(xin)ڶdecimateָ“ֻȡij10%”˽һc(din)ӢZ(gu)~Ԓ@ͲyǰY“dec”“ʮ”˼^@(g)~Ăy(tng)x^fӋ(j)Ժ׃֮ǰ߀ʹexterminate(P)annihilate()
18 Panacea
What you think it means: A cure. Ԟ~ĺxǣ
What it really means: A cure for a lot of things. ~xǣf`ˎ This one is easy to confuse because the explanation is virtually the same even if the definitions are vastly different. A panacea is something that cures a lot of things all at once. For instance, penicillin is a panacea. It cures a bunch of diseases. The flu vaccine is not a panacea because it only protects against the flu.
@(g)~?yn)鼴㶨xĮ팍(sh)|(zh)߀һӵPanacea(f`ˎ)NfP־panacea(f`ˎ)ίܶ༲;Ͳpanacea(f`ˎ)?yn)ֻA(y)
19 Fortuitous
What you think it means: Lucky. Ԟ~ĺxǣ\(yn)
What it really means: By chance. ~xǣżȻ There is a difference between luck and chance. Unfortunately, people use the two interchangeably, so much so that it's difficult to explain the differences anymore. Lucky is an event that happens by chance that can be described as fortunate. Winning the lottery is lucky. Fortuitous means simply by chance. For instance if you drop your basketball and it bounces into the road and gets hit by a car, that's a fortuitous instance. It's neutral, so it can be good or bad things that happen by chance.
\(yn)͙C(j)Ѕ^(q)e˂ʹãԺyȥеą^(q)e\(yn)żȻl(f)һҕ“\(yn)”вƱ\(yn)ġFortuitousָ“żȻ”e(g)O(sh)]ס@Y(ji)@·ϓһv܇@fortuitous(żȻ)@(g)~ԵȿָżȻl(f)ĺ£ҲָżȻl(f)ĉ
20 Plethora
What you think it means: A lot of something. Ԟ~ĺxǣܶ
What it really means: More than is needed. ~xǣ This is one I use incorrectly all the time. In fact, I almost used it a couple of times in this very article. Plethora simply means that there is more of something than is needed. For instance, you may think that 5,000 people is a plethora of people. However, when you put them into a hockey arena that seats 13,000 people, it's actually less than half capacity and therefore not a plethora. If you had 13,500 people in that same arena, that would be a plethora of people.
@(g)~ҿe䌍(sh)@ƪҲЎ״P(gun)e`Plethoraָ“ҲҪʲô”X5000Ǻܶˣ@Щ˷ŵݼ{13000˵ıô˔(sh)߀һԾͲplethora();13500˷ŵǂ(g)Ǿplethora()
21 Total
Total means exactly what you think it means, but total is used unnecessarily on a frequent basis. When there is a total of 50 people who do something, the total is 50 whether or not you use the word “total.” Or you might hear someone say that they were totally surprised. Surprise is not a conditional emotion. You were either surprised or not. The use of total didn't add anything of value to the sentence. In most cases, the definition is correct but using the word is repetitive when put in context with the rest of the sentence.
TotalĺxJ(rn)ȫһtotalDZҪʹáO(sh)50(g)ڸɻôЛ]total@(g)~total((sh))϶50S f^totally(ȫ)“”һNlwҪôҪô]һ(g)totalκxڶ(sh)r@(g)~Ķx_;ц~ŵg@؏(f)
22 Literally
What you think it means: Figuratively. Ԟ~ĺxǣء
What it really means: Actually. ~xǣ_е This is something that has come about relatively recently and my generation may have helped propagate this one. Literally means actually. When something is literally true, it is actually true. If I haven't seen my friend in literally five years then I actually haven't seen them in five years. People use literally along with hyperbole to show an emotion: “I haven't had Chinese food in literally a million years.” This is meant to denote that the person hasn't had Chinese food in a while. The word those people actually want is figuratively. They figuratively haven't had Chinese food in a million years. They probably literally hadn't had it in a few days or weeks.
@(g)~ǽЩ@һ˻S^ƲLiterally˼“_е”ijliterally(_)ٌ(sh)ʹ_(sh)ġliterally(_)5]Ҋ^ǾfҵĴ_5궼]Ҋ^˱_(d)˂䏈ʹ@(g)~“literally(_)һf]Ї!”@ָǂ(g)һΕr(sh)g]Ї@Щ䌍(sh)figuratively()@(g)~ʾfiguratively(·)һf]Їliterally(_)ֻЎׂ(g)ڛ]ЇTˡ
23 can
What you think it means: What is permissible. Ԟ~ĺxǣе
What it really means: What is possible. ~xǣܵ This is one you have to nip in the bud in childhood because it's much harder to correct in adulthood. When you can do something, you have capacity within you to perform that action regardless of whether or not you actually do it. I can bang my head into my desk but I absolutely will not do it. When people use can incorrectly it is because they mean to use the word “may.” When you ask someone if they can open the door, you did not ask them to open the door. You asked them if they were capable of opening the door. If you wish for them to perform the task, you should ask if they will open the door. When you ask if you can have something, you're not asking someone to give it to you. You're asking if you have the capacity to own it. If you need something, ask if you may have it.
@(g)~ʹñڃͯr(sh)_ʼע⣬һeԺͺym(dng)can()ijr(sh)ζ܌(sh)HЄcȥȡǂ(g)Єӡcan()^ײҽ^@ôȥЕr(sh)˂ecan@(g)~?yn)_(d)may()(dng)㆖eǷcan()_Tr(sh)䌍(sh)]Ҫһ_Tֻԃܲ_T;Ҫϣ_Tֱ͕ӆ“Ƿ_T”(dng)㆖Ƿcan()ij䌍(sh)]Ҫo㣬ֻچЛ]Гǂ(g)|ĿҪijֱӆ“Ƿԓ”
24 Defective
What you think it means: That something is broken or missing pieces. Ԟ~ĺxǣij˻ȱ˲
What it really means: Simply that it's broken. ~xǣij You'll see this one a lot in Amazon reviews. People will say that their unit came defective because it was missing a screw or pieces in the box. That's actually incorrect. What they mean to say is that their product is deficient. It's missing pieces, it is not actually broken. The machine may work perfectly fine once the missing pieces have been re-added, which means that it actually isn't defective at all.
ځRdW(wng)uϿܶ@(g)~˂fW(wng)ُĮa(chn)Ʒdefective(ĵ)?yn)ȱij(g)ݽzᔻ䌍(sh)@N÷Dzġ˂fa(chn)Ʒdeficient(ȱݵ)a(chn)ƷֻȱٲljˣbȱٵIJSC(j)\(yn)D(zhun)ˣa(chn)ƷͲdefective(ĵ)
25 Obsolete
What you think it means: Old, out of date. Ԟ~ĺxǣfģ^r(sh)
What it really means: Not produced, used, or needed. ~xǣδa(chn)δʹõģҪ
You'll see this one in the tech industry a lot. People in tech article comments will comment that a phone is obsolete when they really mean that it's out of date. The literal definition of obsolete is an item that it isn't produced, needed, or used anymore. An example of this is is the steam engine. It's largely inefficient compared to today's combustion engine and even more inefficient than the emerging electric engines. Thus, steam engines are not used, produced, or needed anymore. Yes, they are also old and out of date, but obsolete is kind of the next step after old and out of date.
@(g)~ڿƼИI(y)(jng)F(xin)ڿƼuՓ˂fij(g)ԒC(j)obsolete(δʹõ)䌍(sh)fԒC(j)^r(sh)Obsolete涨xָijδa(chn)Ҫʹһ(g)ӾC(j)ă(ni)ȼC(j)C(j)ஔ(dng)oȲd늰l(f)әC(j);ˣC(j)Dzʹõa(chn)ĻٱҪ]eC(j)Ҳf^r(sh)obsolete“f”c“^r(sh)”һAˡ
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