{"id":1147,"date":"2012-05-17T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2012-05-17T13:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/?p=1147"},"modified":"2012-05-08T22:49:50","modified_gmt":"2012-05-09T02:49:50","slug":"i-do-not-think-it-means-what-you-think-it-means","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/i-do-not-think-it-means-what-you-think-it-means\/","title":{"rendered":"I do not think it means what you think it means"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I do not think it means what you think it means.&#8221;\u00a0 This is a line from a famous American film from the 1980&#8217;s called<strong><em> Princess Bride<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 This line is spoken in the following conversation between two characters, Vizzini and Inigo Montoya.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"You keep using that word.\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/G2y8Sx4B2Sk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Vizzini<\/em>: He didn&#8217;t fall? <em>INCONCEIVABLE<\/em>*.<br \/>\n<em>Inigo Montoya<\/em>: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.<\/p>\n<p>I love this movie, like many people I know, and I was thinking about this line the other day.\u00a0 It started me thinking about different phrases people say in English that don&#8217;t mean what people think they mean.\u00a0 So, I started looking for examples of these common phrases in everyday English and here is a list of some of what I found.\u00a0 I&#8217;ve include the phrase, what people often think the phrase means, the actual meaning, and then an example of how to use the phrase correctly in a sentence or two.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;I could care less&#8221;<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>What people think this means:<\/em> &#8220;I couldn&#8217;t care less.&#8221;<br \/>\n<em>What this actually means:<\/em> You actually do care.<br \/>\n<em>Example:<\/em> I told Marisa that her ex-boyfriend Tommy has a new girlfriend and she told me &#8220;I could care less&#8221;, but she used this phrase wrong because I know she <em>does<\/em> care.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;that begs the question&#8221;<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Would people think this means:<\/em> To ask or raise a question.<br \/>\n<em>What this actually means:<\/em> To use an argument that assumes as proof the very thing one is trying to prove.<br \/>\n<em>Example<\/em>: Paul said that exercise is healthful because it makes you healthy. That begs the question. That is saying the same thing. He needs to make a better argument.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;let&#8217;s table this&#8221;<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>What people think this means:<\/em> To discuss something later.<br \/>\n<em>What this actually means:<\/em> In the United States, this means what American&#8217;s think it means. But it means the opposite, &#8220;let&#8217;s discuss this right now&#8221;, in most of the rest of the English-speaking world.<br \/>\n<em>Example (America):<\/em> I think we have talked about this enough let&#8217;s table this until tomorrow.<br \/>\n<em>Example (elsewhere):<\/em> This is a very important decision let&#8217;s tablet it.\u00a0 We&#8217;ll meet in the conference room to discuss this in 5 minutes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;to do a 360&#8221;<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>What people think this means:<\/em> One completely changing one&#8217;s opinion.<br \/>\n<em>What this actually means:<\/em> One&#8217;s opinion changed, but then changed back to the original opinion.<br \/>\n<em>Example:<\/em> After talking to my dad about the presidential candidates I changed my mind for who I would vote for, but then I talked to my mom and I did a 360.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;PIN number&#8221;<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>What people think this means:<\/em> This is a way to refer to ones personal identification number.<br \/>\n<em>What this actually means:<\/em> This is redundant phrase because PIN stands for personal identification number.\u00a0 When a person says PIN number that are really saying &#8220;personal identification number number.&#8221;<br \/>\n<em>Example:<\/em> Don&#8217;t ever tell anyone your PIN.\u00a0 It should be kept a secret.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;the lion&#8217;s share&#8221;<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>What people think this means:<\/em> The greatest of all the possible shares.<br \/>\n<em>What this actually means:<\/em> This phrase originally comes from an Aesop&#8217;s Fable in which the lion took all, not the largest, of the shares.\u00a0 Over time this phrase has come to mean both &#8216;the greatest of all possible shares&#8217; <em>and<\/em> &#8216;all the shares&#8217; or all there is to take.<br \/>\n<em>Example:<\/em> I left cookies on the table in the morning and by the end of the day my teenage son had taken the lion&#8217;s share of what was there and left none for the rest of us.<\/p>\n<p>* inconceivable\u00a0 = unbelievable<\/p>\n<p>If you want to learn what more phrases and words in English actually mean you should check out the resources to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.transparent.com\/learn-english\/\">learn English<\/a> at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.transparent.com\/learn-english\/\">Transparent Language<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I do not think it means what you think it means.&#8221;\u00a0 This is a line from a famous American film from the 1980&#8217;s called Princess Bride.\u00a0 This line is spoken in the following conversation between two characters, Vizzini and Inigo Montoya. Vizzini: He didn&#8217;t fall? INCONCEIVABLE*. Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/i-do-not-think-it-means-what-you-think-it-means\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,135139],"tags":[191218,191219,191217],"class_list":["post-1147","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-culture","category-english-language","tag-common-mistaken-meaning","tag-i-do-not-think-it-means-what-you-think-it-means","tag-misused-phrases"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 5.0.0.1 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This post offers an explanation of some commonly misused phrases in English and gives examples of how to use them correctly.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta 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