History YouKeepUsingThatWord / VeryPedantic

* Most '''plastic surgery''' is used to reconstruct parts of the body damaged in horrific accidents, such as severe burns. The beauty procedures which the phrase normally refers to should really be called '''cosmetic surgery''', which is just one type of plastic surgery.

* '''Mixed Company'' originally meant a group containing both men and women. Nowadays it usually means something more like "A group containing individuals who might be easily offended" most likely this is due to SocietyMarchesOn.

* Technically, a '''Comic Book''' has to be funny, hence the "comic" part. If it's serious, it is most likely a '''Graphic Novel'''.

* Technically, a '''Comic Book''' has to be funny, hence the "comic" part. If it's serious, it is most likely a ''Graphic Novel'''.

* Most people think '''bitch''' is a vulgar word for manipulative, untrustworthy, or outright bad women. It actually is slang for a female dog.

* A '''meteoroid''' is a solid object moving in interplanetary space, of a size considerably smaller than an asteroid and considerably larger than an atom. When a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere, It is moving so fast that it compresses the air before it to the point that it is heated enough to melt and give off light. The streak of light in the sky this produces is a '''meteor'''; the rock itself is never called a meteor. If this streak is very bright, it is called a '''fireball''' or '''bolide''' (colloquially a '''shooting star'''). The solid remnant which hits the ground (or sea) is a '''meteorite'''. Meteorites are actually still very cold after they hit the ground (having been floating around in very cold space for quite a long time). However, the impact with the ground and the transfer of energy melts some of the rock or earth on the Earth's surface; this molten material is knocked away and when it solidifies is called a '''tektite'''. An '''asteroid''' is a chunk of rock larger than a meteoroid, floating freely in space.

* '''Alien''' used to refer to anyone or anything not native to a country. (For example, a Mexican in America could be called an alien.) Hence the phrase "outer space alien", meaning the being isn't native to Earth. However, the meaning has been muddled up over the years, so that whenever you mention the term "alien" people will automatically think of the outer space kind, and will give you very strange looks when you call a Mexican an "alien" (unless you add "[[TheIllegal illegal]]"). Government documents will use "alien" in the proper use of the word, however.

* '''Begging the question''' is starting an argument by assuming what you want to prove. The phrase is far more often used to mean what is properly called'''raising the question'''.

* Originally, '''Waifu''' (and its SpearCounterpart term '''Husbando''') referred to a fictional character that a person loved obsessively, to the point they would marry the character if given the chance. But because it's possible for any character to inspire that level of obsession, it eventually meant "character one loved the most", then eventually "favorite character", which coincided with the point where "seasonal waifu" (i.e. favorite character ''that season'') started being used as a term and unintentionally brought up imagery of philandering or polyamory.

* Originally, '''Waifu''' (and its SpearCounterpart term '''Husbando''') referred to a fictional character that a person loved obsessively, to the point they would marry the character if given the chance. But because it's possible for any character to inspire that level of obsession, it eventually meant "character one loved the most", then eventually "favorite character", which coincided with the point where "seasonal waifu" (i.e. favorite character ''that season'') started being used as a term.

** The word itself once was an acronym meaning "No Climax, No Resolution, No Meaning", referring to the way these stories were written rather than just the content. Over the years it slowly morphed into a catch-all for any male/male works regardless of if they had any of the three. Nowadays, fans try to avert misusing the phrase by simply referring to said works as BL (short for
"Boys Love", another popular term). In the West, Yaoi had become so prominent a word in media that talked about it that ''BL'' was the synonym rather than the other way around.

* '''Vulgar''' technically means "common" or "ordinary". It came to mean rude or obscene because [[LowerClassLout "common" people are often stereotyped as having bad manners]]

* '''{{Yaoi}}''' is frequently used for all manga with gay male content. This isn't correct. '''{{Bara}}''' is the proper term for most manga written and read by gay men. Yaoi is mostly written and read by women (although there are male yaoi writers, and female bara writers). Bara tends to have more ManlyGay characters, in contrast to the {{bishounen}} yaoi characters. Unlike Yaoi, Bara is usually pornographic, and doesn't have the Seme/Uke dynamic in Yaoi.

* '''Innuendo''' is anything that hints at something without saying it out loud, not just restricted to sex. In the past it most commonly meant what we might now call a "dogwhistle", and is still very occasionally used this way.

* A '''Luddite''' was originally a follower of Ned Ludd[[note]]who didn't actually exist, but that's another story[[/note]], who destroyed a weaving machine that had taken his job. The initial Luddites campaigned against the replacement of human labour by new technologies. Nowadays, the word "luddite" (often not capitalised) is used to mean anyone who is opposed to new technology for any reason.

* A '''Luddite''' was originally a follower of Ned Ludd[[note]]who didn't actually exist, but that's another story[[/note]], who lost his job in the textiles industry through the invention of weaving machines. The initial Luddites campaigned against the replacement of human labour by new technologies. Nowadays, the word "luddite" (often not capitalised) is used to mean anyone who is opposed to new technology for any reason.

* '''Frozen''' refers to a substance in the solid phase of matter. It does not have to do with cold temperatures. A rock is frozen, unless of course it is lava. Liquid nitrogen, on the other hand, is not frozen, despite the fact that it is cold. Freezing is the inverse process of melting, so dry ice is not frozen either. It is '''deposited''' carbon dioxide. Similarly, '''boiling''' just means that a substance in in the gaseous phase. Air is boiling, unless it is in a Dewar flask at cryogenic temperatures. Lava is not. As boiling is the inverse process of condensation, neither is carbon dioxide. It is '''sublimated'''. '''Evaporation''' refers specifically to vaporization occurring below a substance's boiling point.