- #31
Jimmy Snyder
- 1,122
- 22
No.arildno said:
ingenuous - in jen you us
Ingenious - in jeen ee us.
What Are Words That Are Their Own Antonyms?
- Thread starter moe darklight
- Start date
Click For Summary
The discussion explores the evolution and quirks of language, focusing on words that have shifted meanings or possess contradictory definitions. Notable examples include "egregious," which historically meant exceptional but is now often used sarcastically to indicate something negative, and "nonplussed," which is increasingly used to mean indifferent rather than shocked. The conversation also highlights self-contradicting words, or contronyms, such as "cleave," which can mean both to adhere and to separate. Participants share various examples, including "flammable" and "inflammable," and discuss the humorous aspects of language evolution, including the use of terms like "irregardless." The thread emphasizes the playful nature of language and its capacity for ambiguity, inviting further exploration of linguistic oddities.
ingenuous - in jen you us
Ingenious - in jeen ee us.
- #32
Jimmy Snyder
- 1,122
- 22
Polish and Polish comes to mind. That doesn't look right, I should have started with the upper case one. How about a noun that changes from plural to singular by adding an s at the end.lisab said:
Last edited:
- #33
arildno
Science Advisor
Homework Helper
Gold Member
Dearly Missed
- 10,119
- 138
jimmysnyder said:
Thanks
- #34
Gokul43201
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
- 7,207
- 25
Also Brat and Brat!jimmysnyder said:
- #35
lisab
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
- 2,026
- 623
Gokul43201 said:Also Brat and Brat!
Wow!
I was thinking of polish/Polish, but now there's brat/Brat, and they're both types of sausage...how funny.
- #36
K.J.Healey
- 622
- 0
Well one is also a http://webmaster.beverleypaine.com/images/new_brat.jpg
Last edited by a moderator:
- #37
Chi Meson
Science Advisor
Homework Helper
- 1,890
- 11
just thought of one:
Attack: to move swiftly toward one's opponents.
except in bicycling
Attack: to move swiftly away from one's opponents.
Attack: to move swiftly toward one's opponents.
except in bicycling
Attack: to move swiftly away from one's opponents.
- #38
Jimmy Snyder
- 1,122
- 22
August and august, but it's not a sausage.
Bucket and bucket (to Hyacinth anyway)
I looked these up. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_case_sensitive_English_words
Job, job
Natal, natal
Ranier, ranier
Herb, herb
Nice, nice
Reading, reading
Tangier, tangier.
Bucket and bucket (to Hyacinth anyway)
I looked these up. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_case_sensitive_English_words
Job, job
Natal, natal
Ranier, ranier
Herb, herb
Nice, nice
Reading, reading
Tangier, tangier.
Last edited:
- #39
Jimmy Snyder
- 1,122
- 22
Both words are uncapitalized.Gokul43201 said:Also Brat and Brat!
- #40
mbrmbrg
- 485
- 2
Moot.
My mother claims that nowadays it's used to mean something that's irrelevent/resolved, so it doesn't need to be discussed ("a moot point"), but I first met the word when Tolkein uses it with its older meaning: a long discussion of a tricky topic ("an Entmoot").
On a similar note:
Mall (as in shopping mall) and maul (as into wound horribly) are from the same root:
There used to be a rather violent sport (used to be. snort. whatever.) which managed to bequeath its name both to the wooden clubs with which it was played (maul) and playing field on which it was played (mall). From the noun maul, the verb to maul was a natural consequence. The playing field also lent out its name, coming to mean any wide, smooth grassy area (there's a National Mall in Washington, D.C.), which in turn leant itself to any wide, open area, even an enclosed one with lots of stores inside.
My mother claims that nowadays it's used to mean something that's irrelevent/resolved, so it doesn't need to be discussed ("a moot point"), but I first met the word when Tolkein uses it with its older meaning: a long discussion of a tricky topic ("an Entmoot").
On a similar note:
Mall (as in shopping mall) and maul (as into wound horribly) are from the same root:
There used to be a rather violent sport (used to be. snort. whatever.) which managed to bequeath its name both to the wooden clubs with which it was played (maul) and playing field on which it was played (mall). From the noun maul, the verb to maul was a natural consequence. The playing field also lent out its name, coming to mean any wide, smooth grassy area (there's a National Mall in Washington, D.C.), which in turn leant itself to any wide, open area, even an enclosed one with lots of stores inside.
- #41
lisab
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
- 2,026
- 623
jimmysnyder said:
Wow. Brilliant! Wiki-brilliant!
(I should have known Rainier - I see it straight out my my bedroom window)
- #42
DaveC426913
Gold Member
- 24,001
- 8,159
Poop-Loops said:
Alas, "irregardless" is, indeed, a word. Look it up.
Similar threads
- · Replies 1 ·
- · Replies 1 ·
- · Replies 7 ·
- · Replies 19 ·
- · Replies 3 ·
- · Replies 21 ·
Lingusitics
Is there a Sociology of Scientific Language?
- · Replies 15 ·
- · Replies 1 ·
- · Replies 4 ·