speaking

One day I was talking to my dad about when people get kicked out of their house. I was trying to think of the word "Eviction Notice"but instead i said, "erection notice" My dad told me to never say that word again and he never told me why. A few years later I rwalized what it meant. Hehe... I'm only human!

eviction notice

When I was about 3 or 4, I used to get "I" and "you" the wrong way round. I would say "you" when I meant myself and "I" when I meant someone else. I was using the logic that other people referred to me as "you" and to themselves as "I", so therefore I should refer to myself as "you" and to them as "I". For example, at the dinner table I would say to my Mum "You want some of mine" when I meant "I want some of yours".

Alan, Sheffield, UK

I used to think that cattle was a kind of kettle, because it was a similar sounding word. I had a recurring dream about my parents filling the kettle and saying it was the cattle, and it made a funny noise, something like "Voontoom, voontoom, voontoom". The Christmas carol "Away in a manger" has a verse which says "The cattle are lowing and the baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus no crying he makes". I thought that meant the kettles are whistling.

Alan

I used to think that the word "treefeller" was actually "treefella" and it was a little fella who did something with trees. I wasn't sure what though.

Katie

For years I was under the impression that the sailing boat that started with a 'y' was pronounced "yatchet".
No-one told me :-(

yacht boy

In first grade, the teacher was talking about how we should never take the things in our life for granted. I thouhgt she said take them for "granite", so i was like, I'm not gonna take things for granite-or consider them to be nothing more than a worthless piece of rock.

Holly

When I was little I misheard people when they said deaf. I thought they said 'Death'. I knew that it meant someone who couldn't hear though. So when ever my friends couldn't hear me I said "Are you death? I SAID --------"
Well I did this to a teacher. who kindly corrected me.

deaf

Every year the older kids in my school would give a little play, and all the younger kids would come in and watch. Well, the teacher called it a matennae (sp?) and i thought that she said Matt & A. Like the name of the show was that, and Matt & A (like for Amanda or Amy) were the stars. I was so excited, because i knew a boy named matt, who was older. My name starts with an A and i was hoping that they would have the same play later when i was older so i could be the A in Matt & A. He wasn't even in the play!! I was so confused. I didn't figure it out for 5 years what a matennae was

A

I thought Suitcases were Soupcases!

Anon

I was born and raised in NY, as were my parents. My teacher taught us colors in pre-school, and we had just learned "orange", and my teacher pronounced it "ohr-ange." Everytime I would say the word, my mom would correct me and say "ahr-ange." I finally concluded in my little mind that there must be a difference in pronunciation of the color and the fruit, but I didn't know which was which!!! So if I was ever asked to identify either, I would mumble the word because I wasn't sure if I was saying it right.

Matt

I used to think that the expression "The former or the latter?" was actually "The farmer or the ladder?"

Fitzwilliam

I always thought that if someone was said to be 'outspoken' that it meant that they were out-spoken, in the same sense as someone can be out-done; that they couldn't get a word in edge ways cos everyone would 'out-speak' them.

Layla

Until about a year ago, when I saw it written, I thought 'To kill a mocking bird' was 'Tequila mocking bird'

Layla

Until about a minute ago I thought the phrase, "It's a dog eat dog world." Was actually, "It's a doggy dog world." I feel so ashamed. I usually never misunderstand idioms.

14 year old girl

When I first heard the word "plebiscite", I guess because of its resemblance to parasite, I thought it must mean some kind of nasty little critter. To this day, I never hear the word without thinking of some small but rather fearsome animal.

Rhonda

I was a kid who loved to use big words. At 7 or 8, adults would be really impressed with the way I talked. However, most of my lingo came from just listening to people speak; my parents talking to one another, television, adults in public places conversing.
Well, I heard the word "thoroughly", but hadn't heard the word "thorough", so, for like, five years I thought the word was "thurral".
One Easter when I was about 13, after hours of searching for my prize egg, I had this conversation with my sister:
"But I've been really, really thurral!"
"You've been what?"
"You know, I've searched very thoroughly."
"Oh, you mean you've been thorough?"
"NO, I was thurral!"

She never let me live that one down.

Ari