Comments on: Weekend Word Wrap: contronyms

By: readinggeek

readinggeek — Fri, 11 May 2007 06:21:18 +0000

What about the classic Aloha? It can mean both hello and good-bye in Hawai’i.

I also like the word execute. I think this may qualify as a contranym. To execute a command means to begin or start something and to execute a person means, well…

I don’t know. What do you think?

By: SylThePyl

SylThePyl — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 21:08:02 +0000

Thanks, Clyde, for pointing out the important distinction between “anxious” and “eager” — the mis-use of which is my #2 pet peeve.

(My #1 pet peeve is the ubiquitous use of “hopefully” — full of hope — when in fact the speaker’s intention is to communicate “I hope” or “With luck” or “Good Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise” Aarrgghhh, it’s the screech of fingernails on my grammatical blackboard… )

By: ZoaMoo

ZoaMoo — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 18:05:33 +0000

There’s always a debate in my family whenever someone says “below par.”
Par means the average or what’s expected. So… on one hand, with golf, if a pro-golfer’s work is “below par” that would mean that it was good, better than average/expected, right? (I’m not a golfer…)
On the other hand, when some non-pro-golfer’s work is “below par” it’s not good, it’s worse than expected.
Maybe not a contronym, per se, but a funny phrase that you hear all the time.

By: Scarlett

Scarlett — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:44:38 +0000

Diet: His diet consisted of… (all inclusive, everything you eat) I’m going on a diet (trying to eat little, eating certain things only)

By: Marvin

Marvin — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 12:52:34 +0000

Once you have set the ALARM, it can go off or you can turn it off.

By: Melanie

Melanie — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 03:01:41 +0000

Well, these are only homophones, not homonyms, but for those who aren’t purists, there’s:
raise (to build up) vs. raze (to tear down)

By: Jerry

Jerry — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 01:42:06 +0000

Some great examples of contranyms have been given here (along with a few homonyms, of which there are hundreds in the English language).

Contranyms are also called schizophrenic words, autoantonyms, and Janus words).

Here are some more (some better than others):

biweekly: once every 2 weeks vs. 2 times a week

bolt: lock in place (bolt the door) vs. run off (the prisoner will bolt when he gets a chance)

bully: excellent (bully for you) vs. cruel (that kid has bully behavior)

clip: hold together (clip the sheets of paper together) vs. cut off (clip her hair)

demean: conduct in proper manner vs. diminish reputation

dress: remove an outer layer (dress a chicken) vs. add an outer layer (dress your children)

easterly: coming from east vs. going toward east

fair: good vs. only adequate

imposing: impressively good (an imposing speaker) vs. taking unfair advantage (imposing on your hospitality)

livid: pale vs. unusually colored

mean: nasty (he is mean to his sister) vs. excellent (she plays a mean guitar)

overlook: see (from my porch I can overlook the lake) vs. fail to see (don’t overlook the last chapter)

peruse: examine with attention and detal vs. examine in casual or cursory manner

put on the table: defer later discussion vs. open for discussion

ravel: tangle vs. untangle

scan: look intently vs. look casually

sign off: agree to (I’ll sign of on that proposal) vs. abandon or stop (that TV show will sign of the air at midnight)

skinned: outer covering gone (a chicken was skinned) vs. outer covering present (the boat was skinned with aluminum)

out of: inside (she is an accountant who works out of her home) vs. outside (he is out of town)

stem: develop from (does her philosphy of life stem from her past experiences?) vs. block (will those actions stem the flow of immigration?)

temper: make harder (temper steel) vs. make softer (temper punishment)

trip: stumble (don’t trip on the stairs) vs. move gracefully (she can trip happily across the dance floor)

walk around: walk outside (he rang the front doorbell and then walked around the house to the back door) vs. walk inside (because of the rain, she walked around her house looking for something to do)

wear: last (does that fabric wear well?) vs. deteriorate (that fabric will wear a great deal after rough use)

weathered: bore up well (the tent weathered the storm) vs. wore out (my boots have become weathered)

wind up: cause to end (wind up a speech) vs. cause to start or continue (wind up a watch)

By: Clyde

Clyde — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 23:11:54 +0000

I disagree with “anxious” qualifying as a contronym. The part about anxious with regard to anxiety is correct, but the other, oft misunderstood type of “anxious” is more correctly termed “eager.” (If I am eager about going to the dance,then I look forward to it, but if anxious, then I am sweating it in a different way.) And shouldn’t a “contronym” be spelled “contranym?”

By: Kitty

Kitty — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:54:01 +0000

As far as one word meaning two opposite things, I’m not sure if this counts because the second meaning developed originally as slang but here goes:

Bad

1) not good, not fresh, not moral or otherwise unsound
2) good, cool, tough, hip

Or, in the immortal words of Huey Lewis, “Sometimes Bad is Bad”.

By: Cheryl Caesar

Cheryl Caesar — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:59:26 +0000

Two words with the same spelling and the same pronunciation, but different meaings, are homonyms.

Same spelling, different pronunciation, different meaning: homographs.

Different spelling, same pronunciation, different meaning: homophones.

Let’s keep “contronym” for the special examples of homonyms where the different meanings are in fact opposite.