Three words I can never use
There are a few words that I will never use, because everybody thinks they mean the opposite of what they actually do. Here are three:
Inflammable - Unlike inactive, injustice, invisible, and a thousand more words, inflammable doesn't mean the opposite of flammable. They both pretty much mean combustible.
Peruse - a lot of people think that perusing something means glancing over it, skimming it, or reading it in a leisurely way. It actually means to study something very carefully.
Drone - People talk about "cubicle drones", "mindless drones", and "Borg drones", as if these people were hard-working slaves, devoting all their effort to someone else's benefit. Actually, drones in a real bee hive, wasp nest, or ant colony have the cushiest job in the place - they're the only males, and they do nothing but have sex with the queen. Drones don't gather nectar, make honey, defend the nest, or sting anybody - female or neuter workers do that.
Inflammable - Unlike inactive, injustice, invisible, and a thousand more words, inflammable doesn't mean the opposite of flammable. They both pretty much mean combustible.
Peruse - a lot of people think that perusing something means glancing over it, skimming it, or reading it in a leisurely way. It actually means to study something very carefully.
Drone - People talk about "cubicle drones", "mindless drones", and "Borg drones", as if these people were hard-working slaves, devoting all their effort to someone else's benefit. Actually, drones in a real bee hive, wasp nest, or ant colony have the cushiest job in the place - they're the only males, and they do nothing but have sex with the queen. Drones don't gather nectar, make honey, defend the nest, or sting anybody - female or neuter workers do that.