>> Some of the words have their American meaning in other languages too, but not as their primary meaning. Here's what they mean elsewhere (primarily) and what they mean in American English (primarily).
last refreshed 05/14/2010 06:14:01 PM
| Expression | Meaning in the US | Meaning elsewhere |
|---|---|---|
| a propos | ~ is appropriate for the occasion | while we're at ~ |
| agenda | the set of goals of an ideological group, i.e. a (overt or covert) plan | Things to be discussed on a meeting; translated straight from Latin, things to be done. |
| ante | (in poker) the initial contribution that each player makes to the pot | before (something) as in "Hanibal ante portas", or "ante meridiem". Prefix in words like antedate, antediluvian. |
| athlete | sportsman (sportsperson?), pro or not, athletics or other | who engages in athletics, or is built as one who does |
| athletics | a contest between athletes (qv above) | track and field, plus gymnastics |
| balance | difference between credits and debits, the remainder which prevents state of balance. "You have a balance there" means you're out of balance because your debit doesn't equal credit. | equilibrium |
| billion | 1e12, i.e. million millions | 1e9, i.e. thousand millions |
| boudoir | some piece of furniture in a bedroom (this comes from a single reference, no clear meaning) | lady's dressing room |
| caution | attention, being beware of | what you pay for the bottle (and get a refund for) |
| cement | the concrete (before it goes stiff), so cement is made of cement, gravel and water, quite recursively. | powder which makes the gravel stick in the concrete |
| classified | classified as secret, top secret or worse | divided into classes, or put into a class as part of a larger division scheme |
| collateral | property mortgaged or otherwise used as a guarantee for a loan | on the same side |
| commission | middleman's fee (sr: provizija); state of being in good working order and ready for operation; to order something (to be produced); the act of committing something; the imaginary thing that officers resign but petty officers don't have. | committee, special group delegated to consider some matter |
| compass | device used for drawing circles | an indicator pointing to the north |
| concrete | building material (cement, gravel, water) | opposite from abstract |
| condominium | (an apartment in) a house in shared ownership | division of power between simultaneous rulers |
| detail | detailed cleaning of a vehicle (a verb) | not a verb |
| developer | programmer; investor in buildings | Someone who contracts for and supervises the construction of a building; a chemical solution for developing film |
| development | making more buildings; producing software | Act of improving by expanding or enlarging or refining; a process in which something passes by degrees to a more advanced or mature stage; chemical process to make the latent image visible. |
| elevator | lift | machine to move loose load (such as corn) to a higher place |
| eventually | in the end (of story, of event chain) | opposite of "certain to happen", possibly |
| graphical | containing sex or violence ("due to graphical nature of this feature presentation, parental guidance is advised") | using drawings and images but without the full assortment of paint |
| gross | disgust(ing) | wholesale, in large amounts ("en gross"), dozen dozens |
| hall | corridor, a narrow room connecting other rooms or leading out | a huge room (as in "music hall", "city hall", "Alberto hall") |
| ottoman | the little stool to lift your legs, a taburet | a flat sofa |
| pathetic | deserving or inciting pity ("Čajkovski [Tchaikovsky] wrote one miserable symphony, really pathetic") . | having a capacity to move one to either compassionate or contemptuous pity |
| premises | piece of land, or a building, which belongs to someone, who then has the right to tell anyone to "leave the premises". | the statements used as parts of a sylogism |
| preservative | conserving agent | condom |
| provision | stipulated condition; process of thinking about what you will do in the event of something happening | middleman's fee (v. commission) |
| theatre | house where they run films | house where drama and comedy are played by live actors |
| trillion | million millions, 1012 | million billions, or million million millions, 1018 |
| tsar, czar | Russian emperor | any emperor |