- There are plenty of English words and phrases that sound made up or incorrect, but are actually valid.
- They include alternative meanings for "literally" and idioms like "you've got another think coming."
- Those examples have hundreds of years of history on their side - and so do these other ones.
When it comes to language, much of what we learn in school is at odds with how language actually works.
There are plenty of words and phrases people use that grammarians would roll their eyes at, and likewise, there are tons of wrong-sounding phrases that are surprisingly acceptable.
For example, you might cringe every time you hear a teenager use the word "literally" in a figurative sense - without realizing that authors from Mark Twain to Vladamir Nabokov have been doing so for hundreds of years.
Here are nine examples of English words and phrases that sound wrong, but simply aren't.