I was on bluesky about to comment on some art someone made and was going to comment it is a diamond in the rough but I did a search to make sure it was rough and not ruff because it is not an expression I use much. When I searched it I found out it meant. “a person who is generally of good character but lacks manners, education, or style; a rough diamond.” I just thought it meant hidden gem. Has anyone else misunderstood the meaning of an expression?
Almost all idioms we use commonly actually originally meant the opposite. “Blood is thicker than water” is a longer saying about chosen family being the true strongest bond. “Great minds think alike” finishes with but fools seldom differ. A few bad apples, spoil the bunch. “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps” only a fool would try it. It’s the most human thing in the world to twist sayings to mean the opposite.
Pretty sure the “original” meaning of “blood is thicker than water” came later. There’s a popular bit of misinfo that it’s short for “the blood of the covenant is stronger than the water of the womb” but no one can point to a single historical usage of it.
I prefer the version that doesn’t prioritize family ties, but I don’t think it’s the original.
I like “little things please little minds” which actually finishes with “while greater fools look on” again completely reversing the meaning.
“Curiosity killed the cat” but satisfaction brought it back.
“Jack of all trades, master of none” but better than a master of one
I have heard of most of them except the great minds think alike one. I wonder if there is a word for idioms that keep their meaning.
100% thought it was a diamond among common stones. I think that misunderstanding began with the movie Aladdin.
Deal with this all the time. I never trust an archaic term because of how many common archaic terms are like that, or worse, with their implications. And idioms like you are citing are really common. A favorite of mine is counting how many famous idioms are just considered excuses to go to the restroom in the Midwest. See a man about a dog? Poo. Take a constitutional? Poo.
Words do evolve and change meaning over time. The Flintstones had a ‘gay old time’ for years. Verizons ‘unlimited internet’ package is not without imposed limits, and the ‘Burger King’ is permitted to make the shittiest burger ever.
