国人经常会错意的25个英文词

25 Common Words That You’ve Got Wrong

25个理解错误的常用词Everybody talks a lot. It’s one of the most frequent things we as human beings do. We need it to communicate. People do it for entertainment. Just because we all do it all the time doesn’t mean we have perfected the craft. Here are a bunch of common words everyone uses but most use incorrectly.

人人都说了不少话。说话是我们人类所做的最常见的事情之一。我们需要通过它来沟通，来获得乐趣。但是我们并没有因为经常说，就完善了说话才能。这里有一组人们频繁使用但是却常常用错的词语。

1. Irony反讽

What you think it means: Something that is funny.

What it really means: Contrary to what you are expecting.

This is a famous one because so many people get this wrong so often. It’s also kind of hard to explain, so we’ll use an example. The Titanic was boasted about as being 100% unsinkable and then in 1912 it was sunk anyway. That is what is called cosmic irony. When a starving vegetarian eats a pepperoni pizza, that is what is called situational irony. There are other kinds too, such as dramatic irony and Socratic irony. Believe it or not, sarcasm is actually irony. When you say something sarcastically, your tone and your words mean two opposite things. That is ironic. Irony can be funny but not everything funny is irony.

所认为的意思：有趣的东西。

实际含义：和预期的相反的。

这是有名的一个易错词，因为很多人经常性地理解错误。同时这个词也有点难以解释，所以我们举一个例子来说明。泰坦尼克号曾号称绝对不会沉没，但是在1912年，它还是沉没了。这就叫做宇宙反讽。一个素食主义者饿了，吃了一个意大利辣香肠披萨，这叫做情景反讽。还有其他的类别，例如戏剧反讽和苏格拉底式反讽。不管你信不信，讽刺就是反讽。当你讽刺地说某件事，你的语气和用词所表达的意思截然不同，这就是讽刺。反讽可以是有趣的，但不是所有有趣的都是反讽。

2. Travesty曲解

What you think it means: A tragedy or something unfortunate.

What it really means: A mockery or parody.

This is another one that people have wrong fairly frequently. You’ve heard people call 9/11 a travesty. Truth be told 9/11 was a tragedy. A travesty is actually a mockery or a parody. One might say that a Weird Al Yankovic album is a travesty. With how often this word is associated with tragedy, we wouldn’t be shocked if that definition were eventually added as an acceptable meaning. Until then, it doesn’t mean anything bad happened.

所认为的意思：悲剧或不幸的事

实际含义：嘲讽或拙劣的模仿

这是另一个人们经常用错的词。你可能听过别人用travesty （滑稽）形容911事件。Travesty实际上是嘲讽或拙劣的模仿的意思。有人可能将怪人艾尔?扬科维奇的专辑描述为滑稽之作（Travesty）。因为这个词语常常与悲剧（tragedy）一词混为一谈，所以如果这个含义最后变成一个可接受的意思，我们也不必惊讶。到那时候，这个词就不会有不好的含义了。

3. Ultimate终极

What you think it means: The one, the only. The best.

What it really means: The last item of a list.

Some people do actually use this one properly. You may see someone list off a bunch of things and hear them say, “Okay, at the store we need eggs, milk, juice, and ultimately, butter.” That is actually the proper use of ultimate. There is no other context or added context. It simply means the last one.

所认为的意思：唯一，独有，最好。

实际含义：列表中的最后一个。

有些人的确能准确使用这个词。你可能见过有些人列了一张表，上面有一串东西，他们说：“好了，我们要在商店里买鸡蛋，牛奶，果汁，最后（ultimately）还有黄油。”这就是终极（ultimately）这个词的准确用法。不需要其他的语境或者前后文，单指最后一个。

4. Conversate交谈

What you think it means: To have a conversation.

What it really means: Nothing.

Conversate actually doesn’t exist and I’ll prove it to you. Go into a program that underlines words with red if they’re spelled wrong. Now type out conversate. Did you see the red line? Conversate was meant to be a mixture of conversation and converse and be used as a verb. However, converse is a verb and there really isn’t a need for a second verb to describe the same action.

所认为的意思：进行交谈

实际含义：无

Conversate这个词实际上并不存在。看我来证明。进入一个能将拼写错误的单词用红线显示的程序，输入Conversate。看到红线了吗？Conversate是conversation和converse两个词的结合，作动词。但是converse就是动词，没有必要创造第二个动词来描述同样的行为。

5. Peruse精读

What you think it means: To skim or browse.

What it really means: To observe in depth.

When you peruse something, you are actually taking a very close look at it. When you’re at a record store (remember those?) and you’re just running through a stack of records, you are just browsing. If you pick up a record and look at the artist, track list, and additional information on the back, then your are perusing.

所认为的意思：略读或浏览

实际含义：深入观察

精读（peruse）是指仔细观察某件事物。当你在音像店（还记得音像店吗？），你走过一排排的音像架，那叫浏览（browsing）。如果你拿起一张专辑，看看背面的艺术家、歌单和其他信息，这就叫精读（peruse）。

6. Bemused迷惑

What you think it means: Amused.

What it really means: Confused.

This is one of the many words on this list that will make you strongly dislike the English language. Despite looking all but identical to the word amused, bemused doesn’t even come close to meaning the same thing. If you are bemused then you are actually confused.

所认为的意思：愉悦

实际含义：迷惑

这是这篇文章中让你不喜欢英语的很多词中的一个。尽管看上去和amused（愉悦）这个词很像，但是bemused（迷惑）的意思完全不相关。如果你bemused的话，你就是真的迷惑了。

7. Compelled迫使

What you think it means: To do something voluntarily by choice.

What it really means: To be forced or obligated to doing something.

This is one that people get wrong and it’s rather understandable. The real definition is very close to the definition people generally use. The difference is the motivation. When people say compelled, they think the person wants to perform the action. In fact, they are forced to do it regardless of their personal feelings. Here’s an example. When you’re in court, you are compelled to give honest testimony. You may not want to, but it doesn’t matter because you have to.

所认为的意思：自愿选择做某事

实际含义：被强迫或有义务做某事

这个人们误用还是可以理解的。这个词的实际含义和人们通常使用的含义非常相近。不同之处在于动机。当人们说compelled时，以为别人想要做这件事。实际上，并没有考虑他们的意愿，他们是被迫做这件事。例如，当你在法庭上，你被迫给出诚实的证供，可能你并不想这样做，但是这并没有关系，因为你不得不这样做。

8. Nauseous令人厌恶的

What you think it means: To feel ill.

What it really means: To cause feelings of illness.

This is another understandable mishap that a lot of people make. If you actually feel sick then you are nauseated. The object that made you feel ill is nauseous. Here’s how this works. If you’re at an amusement park and you’re sitting next to a full trash can, the fumes from the trash may make you feel ill. That means the fumes from the trash can are nauseous because they are making you feel nauseated.

所认为的意思：感觉恶心

实际含义：感觉恶心的来源

这也是一个人们用错但可以理解的词语。如果你真的感觉恶心，应该用nauseated。而让你感到恶心的东西才用nauseous。用法如下，如果你在一个游乐园，坐在了装满的垃圾箱旁边，垃圾散发出来的臭味让你感到恶心。这里指垃圾箱散发出来的臭味nauseous（令人恶心），因为它让你nauseated（感到恶心）。

9. Redundant累赘的

What you think it means: Repetitive.

What it really means: Unnecessarily excessive.

This one is tough because you can use it wrong but unintentionally use it right. When you repeat something a bunch of times, it can become redundant, but redundant expands far beyond just repeating things over and over. A popular thing companies are doing now is firing people but instead of calling it “getting fired,” they call it “eliminating redundancies.” The premise being that the employee they’re firing is unnecessary and excessive and they are thus eliminating them. In pretty much any scenario where there is simply too much of something, it is redundant.

所认为的意思：重复的

实际含义：多余的

这一个词比较难，因为你有时候会用错，但是可能不经意又用对了。当你重复（repeat）了一件事情多次，就变得多余（redundant）了。但是多余远不止讲一件事情重复了一次又一次那么简单。现在公司开除员工却不将之称之为“开除”，而是称之为“裁减冗员”，这是常见的事。这个的前提是被裁减的员工是不必要的、多余的，所以公司开除他们。多数情况下，当一件东西过多时，就是多余。

10. Enormity暴行

What you think it means: Huge, enormous.

What it really means: Profoundly immoral or evil.

Don’t beat yourself up over this one because no one knows this one off the top of their head. Enormity sounds like enormous and as with many of our other examples, here we expect words that sound alike to have similar meanings. Enormity simply means really evil. An example of how to use it is the following: “The enormity of the crimes committed by the Nazis in World War II.” It doesn’t mean the enormous crimes, it means the heinous crimes.

所认为的意思：巨大，庞大

实际含义：极不道德的、邪恶的

不要因为这个词责怪自己，因为没有人能想到它是这个意思。Enormity这个词和其他的例子一样，听起来像enormous。我们以为听上去相像的词语意思也相近。Enormity（暴行）仅仅指真正的邪恶。使用方法如下所示：“二战中德国犯下的enormity（滔天罪行）。”它不是指巨大的罪行，而是极其邪恶的罪行。

11. Terrific可怕的

What you think it means: Fantastic, good.

What it really means: Horrific, to inspire fear.

This is another one that we expect will be changed in the dictionary eventually because barely anyone uses the real meaning anymore. When people say they feel terrific, they mean to say they feel fantastic. An example of something terrific is King Kong. You see a giant monster and it inspires fear. We’re going to loop awesome in with this one too. Awesome simply means to inspire awe and people often use it to describe something really good.

所认为的意思：极好的

实际含义：恐怖的，引起恐惧的

据我们估计,这个词在字典上的意思最终也会得到改写，因为很少有人用到它的真实含义。当人们说他们觉得terrific，实际上想表达的是感觉fantastic（极好）。有一个恐怖的例子就是关于金刚的。你见到了一个巨大的怪兽，它会让你害怕。我们常将awesome这个词与其混淆。Awesome仅指引起敬畏，人们常用这个词来描述非常好的事物。

12. Effect影响

What you may think it means: To cause something to change.

What it really means: An event that causes a change.

A lot of people staunchly defend the wrong definition of this and it’s understandable. When action A causes a change in object B, action A affected object B and object B has been affected. Effect is an event that causes a change. In our prior example, action A is, in and of itself, an effect because it affects things. It’s admittedly confusing to explain but easy to remember. If it’s a noun, it’s an effect. If it’s a verb, it’s an affect.

所认为的意思：造成事物的变化

实际含义：造成变化的事物

很多人坚定地捍卫着这个词错误的解释，这也不难理解。当A动作造成了B事物的变化，A动作影响B事物，B事物被A动作影响。Effect（影响）是指造成变化的事物。在我之前所举的例子中，A动作就其本身而言就是影响，因为它影响了其他事物。必须承认，这很难解释清楚，但是很容易记住。如果它是名词，它就是影响effect，如果是动词，就是引起感情的因素affect。

13. Disinterested无私的

What you think it means: Bored.

What it really means: Neutral.

A good way to remember this one is that there is a word that means bored and it’s uninterested. If you’re uninterested, you’re bored. Being disinterested is the long-form equivalent of stating that you don’t care about something.

所认为的意思：无趣的

实际含义：中立的

有一个好方法记住这个词，就是已经有个词uninterested表示无趣的了，那disinterested就不是这个意思了。如果你不感兴趣，你就是uninterested。Disinterested（无私的）指的是一种长期对某事不关心的状态。

14. Irregardless不管

What you think it means: Without regard.

What it really means: Nothing.

Like conversate above, irregardless isn’t actually a word. When people say irregardless, they actually mean to say regardless. Regardless means without regard. Irregardless has been used so often that it actually is in the dictionary now and that’s kind of sad. Even though it is technically there, there are a large number of people who don’t consider it a word. You can save yourself a couple of keystrokes and a tongue lashing by just using regardless.

所认为的意思：不尊重

实际含义：无

就像之前提过的conversate一样，irregardless实际上不是个词。当人们这样说的时候，他们实际上的意思是regardless（不管）。Regardless的意思是不注意的。Irregardless使用的次数太多，现在已经收录在字典中了，这真是件可悲的事。虽然实际上来说它现在存在了，还是有很多人不把它当词看。你可以偷懒少按几个键盘，舌头少打几个弯，直接用regardless就好。

15. Chronic慢性的

What you think it means: Severe.

What it really means: Over the course of a long time.

This is definitely one that people ought to know better. When you have severe pain, it is just severe pain. If you have chronic pain, you have been in pain for a long, long time. Chronic conditions and diseases are called chronic because they won’t go away and not because they’re overly severe.

所认为的意思：严重的

实际含义：相当长时期的

这个词是人们理应了解的。当你患有severe pain（严重的疼痛）时，你就感到非常痛。如果你患有chronic pain（慢性疼痛）的疾病时，你的疼痛会持续很长很长一段时间。慢性的状态和疾病被称为慢性病，因为这样的疼痛不会消失，只会随着时间的推移越来越严重。

16. i.e.即

What you think it means: For example.

What it really means: In other words.

This is one among a number of shortened words that confuse people. Here’s a quick guide on how to use them. Et cetera is etc., example is ex. or e.g., and in other words is i.e. When you use i.e. you’re essentially putting it there to let people know that you’re going to be stating the same information in different words. Here’s how it really works. It’s June and I moved into my new apartment in April, i.e., two months ago.

被认为的意思：例如

实际含义：也就是

这个词就是让人迷惑的众多缩写中的一个。下面是教你如何使用这些词的快速介绍。Et cetera的缩写是etc.（等等），example的缩写是ex.或e.g.（例如），in other words 的缩写是 i.e.（也就是）。当你使用i.e.时，你旨在让人知道你要换句话解释同样的信息。它的真正用法是：现在是六月，我在四月份，也就是说两个月前，搬进了新公寓。

17. Decimate消灭十分之一

What you think it means: To destroy or annihilate

What it really means: To destroy ten percent.

This one is really goofy and one day this won’t be true. For the time being, decimate actually means removing only ten percent of something. If you know a little bit about words it’s not difficult to figure out. The prefix “dec” means ten. However, the traditional definition of this word is antiquated and it’ll probably be changed eventually. Until then, it’s technically correct to use a word like exterminate or annihilate instead.

所认为的意思：消灭或歼灭

实际含义：消灭十分之一

这个词实在是怪怪的，终有一天它不再会是这个意思。目前，decimate实际上指的是消灭某件事物的十分之一。如果你对词语略微有所了解，你就不难发现，前缀dec的意思为十。但是，这个词语的传统释义已经过时了，它的词义可能最终会改变。那时用这个词来表示exterminate（消除）和annihilate（歼灭）就是正确的了。

18. Panacea治百病的灵药

What you think it means: A cure.

What it really means: A cure for a lot of things.

This one is easy to confuse because the explanation is virtually the same even if the definitions are vastly different. A panacea is something that cures a lot of things all at once. For instance, penicillin is a panacea. It cures a bunch of diseases. The flu vaccine is not a panacea because it only protects against the flu.

所认为的意思：一种药

实际含义：治百病的灵药

这是个容易弄混的词语，因为解释几乎是一样的，即使意思有很大的不同。Panacea指的是能同时治愈百病的灵药。例如，盘尼西林就是一种治百病的灵药。它可以治愈多种疾病。而流感疫苗就不是，因为它只能预防流感。

19. Fortuitous偶然的

What you think it means: Lucky.

What it really means: By chance.

There is a difference between luck and chance. Unfortunately, people use the two interchangeably, so much so that it’s difficult to explain the differences anymore. Lucky is an event that happens by chance that can be described as fortunate. Winning the lottery is lucky. Fortuitous means simply by chance. For instance if you drop your basketball and it bounces into the road and gets hit by a car, that’s a fortuitous instance. It’s neutral, so it can be good or bad things that happen by chance.

所认为的意思：幸运的

实际含义：偶然的

Luck（幸运）和chance（机会）还是有差别的。人们通常可交换使用这两个词，次数太多以至于难以解释了。Lucky（幸运的）是指偶然发生的一件事，可以看作是带来幸运的。中彩票就是幸运的。Fortuitous的意思仅仅是偶然的。例如，如果你的篮球掉了，弹到了马路中间，被一辆车给撞了，这就是偶然。这是个中性词，可以是偶然发生的好事，也可是坏事。

20. Plethora过多

What you think it means: A lot of something.

What it really means: More than is needed.

This is one I use incorrectly all the time. In fact, I almost used it a couple of times in this very article. Plethora simply means that there is more of something than is needed. For instance, you may think that 5,000 people is a plethora of people. However, when you put them into a hockey arena that seats 13,000 people, it’s actually less than half capacity and therefore not a plethora. If you had 13,500 people in that same arena, that would be a plethora of people.

被认为的意思：许多

实际含义：超过了需要

这个词我一直用错了。实际上，我在这篇文章中就用了几次。Plethora仅仅指某件事超过了需要。例如，你可能认为5000人是plethora of people。但是当你将他们安排在能容纳13000人的曲棍球场，那不到场内座位的一半，这可称不上plethora（过多）。如果你将135000人安排进入了球场，那才叫plethora of people（人过多）。

21. Total总数

Total means exactly what you think it means but total is used unnecessarily on a frequent basis. When there is a total of 50 people who do something, the total is 50 whether or not you use the word “total.” Or you might hear someone say that they were totally surprised. Surprise is not a conditional emotion. You were either surprised or not. The use of total didn’t add anything of value to the sentence. In most cases, the definition is correct but using the word is repetitive when put in context with the rest of the sentence.

Total就是你认为的那个意思，但是这个词被太过于频繁地使用了。当一共50人做某件事，总数为50，不论你用了这个词没有。可能你听到有人说他们totally surprised（非常惊讶）。惊讶不是种可衡量的情绪。只有惊讶或者不惊讶之分。Total在这个句子中并没有承担任何成份。多数情况下，意思是对的，但与句中的其他成分重复。

22. Literally实际上

What you think it means: Figuratively.

What it really means: Actually.

This is something that has come about relatively recently and my generation may have helped propagate this one. Literally means actually. When something is literally true, it is actually true. If I haven’t seen my friend in literally five years then I actually haven’t seen them in five years. People use literally along with hyperbole to show an emotion: “I haven’t had Chinese food in literally a million years.” This is meant to denote that the person hasn’t had Chinese food in a while. The word those people actually want is figuratively. They probably literally hadn’t had it in a few days or weeks.

所认为的意思：比喻多的

实际含义：实际上

这个词的误解是最近才出现的，可能我们这一代人还起到了推波助澜的作用。Literally的意思就是实际上。当一件事情Literally是真的，那就确实是真的。如果我literally 5年没见过我的朋友了，那就是我真的五年没有见过我的朋友了。人们常常将literally放在夸张句中表现情绪：“我真的几百万年没吃过中国菜了。”这旨在表示这个人有段时间没尝过中国菜了。这些人想用的词其实是figuratively（比喻多的）。可能他们只是几天或者几个星期没有尝过而已。

23. Can能

What you think it means: What is permissible.

What it really means: What is possible.

This is one you have to nip in the bud in childhood because it’s much harder to correct in adulthood. When you can do something, you have capacity within you to perform that action regardless of whether or not you actually do it. I can bang my head into my desk but I absolutely will not do it. When people use can incorrectly it is because they mean to use the word “may.” When you ask someone if they can open the door, you did not ask them to open the door. You asked them if they were capable of opening the door. If you wish for them to perform the task, you should ask if they will open the door. When you ask if you can have something, you’re not asking someone to give it to you. You’re asking if you have the capacity to own it. If you need something, ask if you may have it.

所认为的意思：允许

实际含义：可能

这个词的错误使用必须扼杀在摇篮中，因为长大后就难以纠正了。当你能做某事，表示你有能力做出行动，不管你到底做还是不做。我能把我的头塞入课桌，但是我绝对不会这么做。人们错误使用can，因为他们想用的词其实是may。你问某人他们能不能（can）开开门，并不是叫他们开门。你问他们有没有能力打开门。如果你希望他们做这件事，你应该问他们开不开门（will ）。当你问你能(can)有某东西吗，你并不是寻求别人将它送给你，而是问你有没有能力拥有它。如果你需要某物，就问你可不可以（may）拥有它。

24. Defective有缺陷的

What you think it means: That something is broken or missing pieces.

What it really means: Simply that it’s broken.

You’ll see this one a lot in Amazon reviews. People will say that their unit came defective because it was missing a screw or pieces in the box. That’s actually incorrect. What they mean to say is that their product is deficient. It’s missing pieces, it is not actually broken. The machine may work perfectly fine once the missing pieces have been re-added, which means that it actually isn’t defective at all.

被认为的意思：某物坏了或者缺失了部件

实际含义：就是坏了

你在亚马逊网站的评论中可以经常看到这个词。人们说他们购买的商品Defective（有缺陷），因为盒子里少了一个螺丝或者部件。实际上这是错误的。他们真正想表达的是他们的东西是残缺的（deficient）。是缺少了部件，而不是坏了。如果缺失的部分安装好，可能机器就能完美运转，这表示这个东西根本就没坏。

25. Obsolete废弃的

What you think it means: Old, out of date.

What it really means: Not produced, used, or needed.

You’ll see this one in the tech industry a lot. People in tech article comments will comment that a phone is obsolete when they really mean that it’s out of date. The literal definition of obsolete is an item that it isn’t produced, needed, or used anymore. An example of this is is the steam engine. It’s largely inefficient compared to today’s combustion engine and even more inefficient than the emerging electric engines. Thus, steam engines are not used, produced, or needed anymore. Yes, they are also old and out of date, but obsolete is kind of the next step after old and out of date.

所认为的意思：老旧的，过时的

实际含义：不再生产、使用或需要的

你在技术行业能常常看到这个词。人们在技术文章评论中常写到这个电话obsolete（废弃的），而真正想表达的意思是out of date（过时的）。Obsolete字面上的意思是指不再生产、需要或者使用的物件。例如，蒸汽机。和今天的内燃机、甚至电动引擎相比，蒸汽机早就满足不了需要了。因此，蒸汽机不再被使用、生产、需要。当然，它们也是老旧的、过时的，但是obsolete是这个状态的更进一步。

Wrap up注意

The English language is a finicky one but it’s also ever changing. Words are updated and definitions change. New words are added every year and some are retired. Very few people will ever master the entire language and the rest of us will just have to do the best we can!