The root word of misunderstand is understand. To explore the orgins of the word,  the prefix 'mis-' should be split from 'understand'.  The prefix 'mis-' comes from Old Norse meaning 'wrongly', - for example, the word 'mistake' came from the compound verb in Old Norse, 'mistake', meaning 'wrongly taken'.   'Understand' is also a compound verb … Read more

I agree.  The fact wild oats are a weed, alone, does not explain why oats rather than another weed seed was adopted to this common expression.    However, I may be able to shine some light on why oats were once considered an aphrodesiac. It's been long known and observed that when idle horses eat … Read more