(This is a snapshot of my old weblog. New posts and selected republished essays can be found at raganwald.com.)
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Off topic: Antagonyms
An antagonym (also called a contranym) is a single word that has meanings that contradict each other.
For example, “Reg Braithwaite buckled his belt and lifted, hoping he wouldn’t buckle under the strain.” The word “buckle” has two entirely opposite meanings.
Antagonyms aren’t nearly as important to the world as finding a way to make our avocation our vocation, but all the same the very idea brings a pleasant smile to my face, and I hope you’re amused as well.
(via Hacker News)
An antagonym (also called a contranym) is a single word that has meanings that contradict each other.
For example, “Reg Braithwaite buckled his belt and lifted, hoping he wouldn’t buckle under the strain.” The word “buckle” has two entirely opposite meanings.
Antagonyms aren’t nearly as important to the world as finding a way to make our avocation our vocation, but all the same the very idea brings a pleasant smile to my face, and I hope you’re amused as well.
(via Hacker News)
Comments on “Off topic: Antagonyms”:
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I'm glad you posted this! I've been fascinated by contranyms since I first discovered them. One of my favourites is "fast", as in "moving fast" or "stuck fast". Wonderful.
I’m also intrigued by the pair of words meritorious and meretricious, one meaning “Deserving reward or praise” and the other meaning “Of or relating to prostitutes or prostitution.”
They are almost homonyms while also being almost antonyms, very much like antagonyms. You definitely don’t want to mistake one for the other…
They are almost homonyms while also being almost antonyms, very much like antagonyms. You definitely don’t want to mistake one for the other…
Cleave was already mentioned, but most people don't know about moot.
Moot:
1) It's arguable
2) It's not arguable.
Moot:
1) It's arguable
2) It's not arguable.
wikipedia list is probably better: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_self-contradicting_words_in_English
The only thing I can half-add is the French word "baiser" meaning (according to context) "kiss" and "fuck" (OK, they're in the same ballpark, but it's not something you'd want to get wrong at a family gathering). Of course, the French don't kiss it up (just as we don't confuse "Roger" with "to roger", or the name "Randy" with the adjective "randy" (hah! we totally do!)), but I'd like to think it induces the occasional blush when non-Francophones grapple with the language.
There's a nice article by Derrida about a deeply conflicted word, "pharmakon". Poison and cure (applied to writing). I always tip my hat to it when I'm bookmarking something. Part of me gives it up for the gift of being able to close a Firefox tab safe in the knowledge that I can return to the subject later (cure). The rest of me realizes that I'm never going to see that page again (poison).
There's a nice article by Derrida about a deeply conflicted word, "pharmakon". Poison and cure (applied to writing). I always tip my hat to it when I'm bookmarking something. Part of me gives it up for the gift of being able to close a Firefox tab safe in the knowledge that I can return to the subject later (cure). The rest of me realizes that I'm never going to see that page again (poison).
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