I was on bluesky about to comment on some art someone made and was going to comment it is a diamond in the rough but I did a search to make sure it was rough and not ruff because it is not an expression I use much. When I searched it I found out it meant. “a person who is generally of good character but lacks manners, education, or style; a rough diamond.” I just thought it meant hidden gem. Has anyone else misunderstood the meaning of an expression?
Almost all idioms we use commonly actually originally meant the opposite. “Blood is thicker than water” is a longer saying about chosen family being the true strongest bond. “Great minds think alike” finishes with but fools seldom differ. A few bad apples, spoil the bunch. “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps” only a fool would try it. It’s the most human thing in the world to twist sayings to mean the opposite.
Pretty sure the “original” meaning of “blood is thicker than water” came later. There’s a popular bit of misinfo that it’s short for “the blood of the covenant is stronger than the water of the womb” but no one can point to a single historical usage of it.
I prefer the version that doesn’t prioritize family ties, but I don’t think it’s the original.
“Curiosity killed the cat” but satisfaction brought it back.
“Jack of all trades, master of none” but better than a master of one
I like “little things please little minds” which actually finishes with “while greater fools look on” again completely reversing the meaning.
I have heard of most of them except the great minds think alike one. I wonder if there is a word for idioms that keep their meaning.