People in stitches realising Brits have same wrong definition for what 'prima donna' means

Some people are pencilling in today on their calendars as the day they finally learned what the phrase 'prima donna' actually means.

By now you must surely have heard the phrase thrown around at certain individuals and know it's not a great thing to be called.

However, it turns out some people don't know what it means and a worrying amount think it's got something to do with the singer Madonna.

First things first the phrase is absolutely not 'pre-Madonna' and didn't originate from her, but if you've only heard it said it's actually pretty understandable why you'd make the mistake.

Secondly, this is a gaffe that some of us over here at LADbible Towers had been making and it was quite the discussion over office desks as some of us had to learn the crushing truth that it had nothing to do with Madonna.

As for why some people have made this mistake, one of the better explanations we've heard was from someone who said: "I thought it meant you were acting like you were about to be rich and famous like Madonna."

Someone else thought that Madonna was such a celebrity that her name had been lent to an entire insult for someone who thought they were 'Madonna level big when they are not that important'.

It maybe doesn't help that Madonna herself released an album called Pre-Madonna which has probably only added to the confusion, but when you're Madonna it's really a missed opportunity if you don't.

Judging by the reactions from people who are only just realising this it seems like it's a phrase they heard when they were younger, never saw it written down and let their brain fill in the gaps.

One person said the brain 'figuring out an explanation for something' was doing a lot of the heavy lifting here.

It's like people only just figuring out what 'WC' means, even if your brain doesn't know the answer it'll cook up a reasonably plausible explanation.

As for what 'prima donna' actually means, it refers to someone who is difficult to please and needs special treatment.

The actual words refer to the most important female singer in an opera, so if you're being called a prima donna and you're an opera singer then it might not be an insult.

Now, it's come to essentially mean someone who is pretty demanding and difficult to please.

Then again if opera singers were such prima donnas that they ended up with their job title becoming a very recognisable insult perhaps it's best if you just never hear those words being uttered in your general direction.

But if you do make sure not to act like a prima donna.