'the road not taken' is like an idiomatic version of 'literally' in that so many people have used it incorrectly for so long that it's got its own functional meaning, discrete and diametrically opposed to the original. That's life yes but it annoys me every time.
There’s two others I know like that as well. “One bad apple” is often used as an idiom to say you can’t judge a group by one bad example...when the saying actually says “One bad apple spoils the barrel”. It’s not the direct opposite statement, but it sure does change the meaning.
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The other is “blood is thicker than water”, implying a vague idea that family should always have your back or be relied upon. But the full saying, “the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb” would suggest something very different indeed.
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yes! I've also heard that last one elaborated in terms of baptismal water and blood shed in battle, literal or figurative; the bonds forged in trying situations or hardship are stronger than the ones we are born into at random.
End of conversation
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