S.G. Browne - Author discussion

A while ago I was thinking about the word "secular" and how I think it seems like its meaning should be different. To me, "secular" sounds like it should mean something like a small group that adheres to a rigid set of rules or guidelines...something along those lines...but, of course, it doesn't.

Any words that you think sound like they should have a different meaning?

Missed this somehow, obviously, so sorry about that. But funny you should mention secular, because I used to always use that in place of insular because I thought the same way. Of course, now I've corrected myself.

Another word is penultimate, which I always thought sounded like it meant ultimate, but it means next to the last. So yes, I think it should have a different meaning.

My best friend had a college professor that kept using penultimate to say ultimate. We had so many conversations about it in front of my 8-year-old son, he went to his second grade class and announced (properly) that they were on the penultimate math problem. We have a fondness for that word. (And now, as a senior in high school, his favorite class is Latin Origins). :)

While I don't spend as much time doing it as I used to (and I really should), I used to collect words that I liked and didn't know the meaning of and then used them all in a scene. It was a great writing exercise that helped me to understand the meaning of the words.

HA! Came across a word the other day that I had forgotten about that sounds like something COMPLETELY different than its meaning: Masticate. I don't think I could ever use it without an unwarranted childish giggle...haha

If I'm not mistaken, I believe that means to chew food and/or grind food with the teeth. And yes, it sounds like something completely different.

That is indeed the meaning and it totally doesn't seem like it would be...haha