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[WorldStar]

just realized I should have been saying "know it by heart" when in actuality I've been saying "know it by hard" my entire life.

turned my whole world upside down. tbh, I'm a little surprised no one has ever corrected me...I used to say it pretty often.

anyone else have something like this happen? recently realize you've been saying an idiom wrong your entire life?

 

[amnesiac]

I used to say "take it for granite"

 

[XANDER CAGE]

I used to think "Que Sera, Sera" was "K S'yrah." As in the wine thing.

 

[Log4Girlz]

How can you know it by hard?

 

[WorldStar]

How can you know it by hard?

it was hard to know it

I studied hard for the exam

now I know it by hard

it actually still makes more sense than "know it by heart" to me

 

[Wolfe]

it was hard to know it

I studied hard for the exam

now I know it by hard

it actually still makes more sense than "know it by heart" to me

I think you meant to say it makes just as little sense as know it by heart , not that these type of sayings are known for making a lot if sense to begin with.

 

[krrrt]

it was hard to know it

I studied hard for the exam

now I know it by hard

it actually still makes more sense than "know it by heart" to me

The fact that you even had a solid explanation makes this over 9000 times more awesome.

English is not my mother tongue so I can't add to this thread. (although I'm pretty sure I don't mix up any expressions in Dutch either)

 

[TheKaeptain]

it was hard to know it

I studied hard for the exam

now I know it by hard

it actually still makes more sense than "know it by heart" to me

Amazing explanation.

 

[Randolph Freelander]

Half of GAF should come in here with the incorrect "could care less" and "for all intensive purposes."

I'm waiting. I literally have to see at least 62,000 responses with those. Half of GAF. You're on the clock.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I used to think Prima Donna was pre-Madonna. It even made sense, too.

 

[Linkhero1]

I used to think Prima Donna was pre-Madonna. It even made sense, too.

Me too lol

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

'you've got another thing coming' is actually 'you've got another think coming'

 

[SystemBug]

One of my friends used to say "lie through your butt" instead of "lie through your teeth"

 

[toxicgonzo]

See Ricky from the trailer park boys.

 

[Orbis Tabula]

'you've got another thing coming' is actually 'you've got another think coming'

Dammit, this is what I was coming to say.

 

[adamsappel]

I thought "wind chill temperature" was "windshield temperature."

 

[soundscream]

I used to think Prima Donna was pre-Madonna. It even made sense, too.

Glad it wasn't just me LOL

 

[IISANDERII]

"Deep down the rabbit hold"

I always though it was hole, not hold.

 

[superpickleman]

My brother in law keeps saying "could care less."

It's not a big deal but I want to kick him every time he does it.

 

[Phire Phox]

Use to think "Buck Naked" was "Butt naked"

 

[Linkhero1]

"Deep down the rabbit hold"

I always though it was hole, not hold.

Butt it is hole?

 

[tensuke]

My brother used to think "let bygones be bygones" was "let bi gons be bi gons". He thought "bi gons" were "gons" that were bi, and it was about tolerating/accepting their sexuality, so "letting bi gons be bi gons" meant you tolerated/accepted something. End result is the same, but how he got there was...different.

 

[Elwood Blues]

I say I could care less on purpose because I know it bothers weird people.

 

[ThreePiMatt]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9qWna_PyDw

 

[SystemBug]

I'm loling really hard reading some of these lol

My brother used to think "let bygones be bygones" was "let bi gons be bi gons". He thought "bi gons" were "gons" that were bi, and it was about tolerating/accepting their sexuality, so "letting bi gons be bi gons" meant you tolerated/accepted something. End result is the same, but how he got there was...different.

 

[MattKeil]

I thought "wind chill temperature" was "windshield temperature."

I like this better than the correct one.

 

[Neolith]

See Ricky from the trailer park boys.

Lmao

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

"Deep down the rabbit hold"

I always though it was hole, not hold.

You were right the first time

 

[DiscoJer]

"Deep down the rabbit hold"

I always though it was hole, not hold.

It is, it's from Alice in Wonderland when she chases a rabbit down a hole

 

[WhereAreMahDragonz]

I would always say "play it by year" instead if ear

 

[Timedog]

I used to think it was "deep-seeded", until Cyan corrected me. To my defense I think deep-seeded works equally as well in the exact same context.

 

[Poltergust]

"Deep down the rabbit hold"

I always though it was hole, not hold.

Um, it is hole. Based off of Alice in Wonderland.

EDIT: Got ninja'd several times over.

 

[caesar]

"Deep down the rabbit hold"

I always though it was hole, not hold.

ummm

 

[DiscoJer]

It's not an idiom, but I used to pronounce Persephone as "paris phone".

 

[NYCmetsfan]

'you've got another thing coming' is actually 'you've got another think coming'

Well if you think that, you've got another thing coming

Who uses think as a noun? (I know this is used but I've literally never heard nobody use this form.)

 

[Poltergust]

It's not an idiom, but I used to pronounce Persephone as "paris phone".

I also mispronounced it, as "purseh phone".

 

[Burt]

These are eggcorns.

For me: I thought "ulterior motives" was "alterior motives" for a while. As in, you actually had an alternative motive to what you were claimed your motive was.

This site is amazing, and I've only been through like 3 idioms.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

It's not an idiom, but I used to pronounce Persephone as "paris phone".

Antigone when I first saw it was anti-gone

 

[NYCmetsfan]

These are eggcorns.

For me: I thought "ulterior motives" was "alterior motives" for a while. As in, you actually had an alternative motive to what you were claimed your motive was.

lol at some of these getting through some big outlets.

 

[Mendoza]

I always said "Nip it in the butt." Until I got a puppy, and when I was looking up how to stop negative behavior, I found out it was actually "Nip it in the bud."

 

[SteveWinwood]

'you've got another thing coming' is actually 'you've got another think coming'

um no

judas priest was def thing

 

[adamsappel]

It's not an idiom, but I used to pronounce Persephone as "paris phone".

I also mispronounced it, as "purseh phone".

Did you ever say it out loud like that? I always love that moment when you're about to say a word in conversation and you suddenly realize you've only ever read the word and this is the first time you've said it aloud. You're either gonna sound smart or stupid.

I had a job interview with a telecommunications company and the guy kept talking about telephony. Tell-eff-eh-nee. Constantly used the word, so I knew it was important but I had no idea what he was talking about. About half-way through the interview, a light bulb went off and I had to stop myself from standing up and shouting, "You mean tell-le-pho-nee!" I didn't get the job.

Antigone when I first saw it was anti-gone

There's a lot of words like this that I pronounce incorrectly in my mind when I'm writing. Anti-gone, Wed-nesday, Connect-icutt.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

Did you ever say it out loud? I always love that moment when you're about to say a word in conversation and you suddenly realize you've only ever read the word and this is the first time you've said it aloud. You're either gonna sound smart or stupid.

There's words that I know but I literally have no idea how to pronounce properly as I've never said them out loud, happens a lot with foreign words. I don't even say them in my head when I read. I just read them, its really weird

Also, I still slip up and say hyper-boil for hyperbole

 

[Poltergust]

Did you ever say it out loud like that? I always love that moment when you're about to say a word in conversation and you suddenly realize you've only ever read the word and this is the first time you've said it aloud. You're either gonna sound smart or stupid.

Well, how many Persephones do you know, huh? D:<

Also, I still slip up and say hyper-boil for hyperbole

Speaking of which, GAF taught me how to correctly say this word. Up until then, I've always read it as "hyperbowl". Fortunately never had to say it aloud and embarrass myself, though.

EDIT: Oh, and one more thing. Up until a few years ago, I've always read/pronounced "compilation" as "compiliation". I have no idea where that extra "i" came from.

Spoiler

And the way I originally pronounced it still sounds better to me.

 

[Apath]

I thought "wind chill temperature" was "windshield temperature."

I thought this until a few months ago when I was corrected. I can't unhear wind chill, and cannot figure out how I heard windshield in the first place.

 

[tensuke]

Did you ever say it out loud like that? I always love that moment when you're about to say a word in conversation and you suddenly realize you've only ever read the word and this is the first time you've said it aloud. You're either gonna sound smart or stupid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yGMhG98ebY

 

[BocoDragon]

Did you ever say it out loud like that? I always love that moment when you're about to say a word in conversation and you suddenly realize you've only ever read the word and this is the first time you've said it aloud. You're either gonna sound smart or stupid.

I had a job interview with a telecommunications company and the guy kept talking about telephony. Tell-eff-eh-nee. Constantly used the word, so I knew it was important but I had no idea what he was talking about. About half-way through the interview, a light bulb went off and I had to stop myself from standing up and shouting, "You mean tell-le-pho-nee!" I didn't get the job.

Enh. You were close enough. You may have put the emphasis on the wrong syllables, but you at least knew the right sounds.

Educated people still argue over how best to pronounce words (esp. Between North America and the UK)

 

[Deleted member 1235]

it was hard to know it

I studied hard for the exam

now I know it by hard

it actually still makes more sense than "know it by heart" to me

this is almost a recreation of the friends scene

'It's a moo point'
'It's like a cows opinion, it doesn't matter, it's moo'

Chandler "It's hard to argue with that"

 

[Chichikov]

I used to think "Que Sera, Sera" was "K S'yrah." As in the wine thing.

 

[SupaNaab]

When I was younger I always said "Mars mellows" instead of "marshmallows". In retrospect, had they been from the planet Mars (or I guess the Mars candy company) it would have made perfect sense.