10 Commonly Misunderstood Words In English [Infographic]

Every language has its share of tricky words that we all have trouble explaining correctly. The Eskimos (or the Inuits as they prefer being called) are said to have 100 words for snow. A gentleman named Phil James has been said to list 97 of these words for snow, but they mean stuff like “snow that doesn’t stick,” “snow on objects” and so forth. The reality is that there are really just 12 words that distinctively mean snow. What I am trying to say is that there is a misconception about what some words mean in every language. There are hundreds of words that people use every day that are misunderstood. I recently stumbled over an infographic that lists 10 commonly misunderstood words in English that we all might need to get to know a little better.

We have all probably misunderstood words and then used them in the wrong context from time to time, so a little update might come in handy. This infographic from Grammar called 10 Commonly Misunderstood Words In English might surprise you. There are a lot of people out there who use “your” and “you’re” incorrectly, but that particular error can be easily corrected if you just think about it logically. But when it comes to the meaning of a word, it can sometimes look like it means something other than what it really does.

For example, the word “ironic” is one of the misunderstood words listed in the infograhic. The actual meaning of this misunderstood word is actually “the opposite (outcome) of what was expected, contrary to expectations” instead of “any kind of amusing coincidence” which is what a lot of people apparently think it means. I have probably used it the wrong way a bunch of times, so I need to remember that.

However, in everyone’s defense, culture has a lot to do with us using these misunderstood words in our daily lives. The thing is that people are continuously recharging words with different meanings in order to create a language that symbolizes their lifestyle or youth. There are plenty of examples of this, and maybe some of these misunderstood words have gotten the same treatment through time.

It’s important to know every meaning of the words we use otherwise it can cause misunderstandings amongst us all. It might not always be clear to one person what another person is trying to say, especially if the person speaking doesn’t know the meanings of the words he or she puts into a sentence. Hopefully that made sense. Have a look through these 10 misunderstood words and see if you are using any of them incorrectly. Maybe you can brush up on their meanings just like a lot of us other people.