A few days ago, I overheard a conversation where one of the people said, “It’s chilly in here.” That statement sent my mind through a wormhole to my childhood, a time when I did not understand the concept of that phrase.
When I was a kid, I never understood why people used the word chilly to describe it being cold. Why would they say that when my mom’s chili was never cold? In fact, it was hot to the point where I had to crumble a bunch of crackers into it and blow on it before I could taste it. If my mom’s chili was hot, then why did people say it was chilly when they were cold?
My brain could not wrap itself around this idea.
Obviously I, as a college professor, have grown to understand the different meanings between two words that sound the same. However, it still freaks me out a little when someone says, “It’s chilly.”
A few weeks ago, we were in Waffle House, which is often known for its powerful air conditioning. Although it was super hot outside, my wife was wearing a jacket inside. The guy in the booth next to us said, “It’s chilly in here isn’t it?”
I cringed inside. It was almost like nails on a chalkboard. He could have said all sorts of things like:
It’s cold.
It’s freezing in here.
It’s colder than kraut.
Brrrrr
I’m getting frostbite.
It’s cold enough to kill hogs.
I can see my breath.
All sorts of things could be said other than chilly.
Yes, I have learned that chilly and chili are not the same. I have also learned that there are things out there hotter than my mom’s chili. The green chili in New Mexico put your tastebuds in a place of fiery ecstasy.
I can promise you there is nothing cold about this stuff.
SBI: A Thinning Crowd 
I had the same problem with “forelegs.” There was a song my mother sang about a dog on two legs if you held his forelegs up. I said, “If you hold all four legs up, the dog has no legs.”
Mom tried to explain, but I couldn’t read yet, so it never made sense to me. It’s all in the spelling š
Sometimes, English is a foreign language.