I can relate to this. I remember one time, when I was a kid, my family was having breakfast at a restaurant. My dad ordered "some 'cakes" for us -- so imagine my surprise when the server actually brought PANCAKES to us, rather than a decadent dessert cake. :-P

Or, when my parents' business burned down right before Christmas of 1990...they told me they didn't know if we'd get to visit my grandparents in Chicago because they had doubts we could "get around it." I had no idea they were talking about financial logistics...I thought they literally meant we couldn't drive near the lot where our shop had burned down.