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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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max, I suspected that this was what you were asking, but what fun would it have been for me to assume as much?  actually, cleave is the only word(s) I know of that exhibits this (possibly) unique quality. If there are others, I eagerly await adding them to my collection of contranyms (with an asterisk, of course).
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I'm shakin' it, boss!
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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BelMarduk posts:
>I'm interested in words that have changed over the years to mean the opposite of the original meaning. A very common example is the word >bad<. Which can now mean really good.
>I've also found that the word >fussy< was used differently in the forties. When they said "I'm not fussy about oatmeal" (found in Who Has Seen the Wind - W.O. Mitchell) it meant the person did not like oatmeal. If I said the same thing today it would mean I don't mind oatmeal.
I have had a problem with misinterpreting this word. I have, on occasion, given my father (now 82) food which he said he was "not fussy about" thinking that he thought it was OK to eat but not his favourite when he really meant that he disliked it.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Another example is doubt. Nowadays if we say "I doubt it happened" we mean we think it didn't happen, but in the 19th century or earlier it seems to have meant something like "It may have happened but I don't know for sure". Of course, I don't have any examples to hand  , but I will try and remember to post it if I see one. Bingley
Bingley
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stranger
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stranger
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I'm digressing into phrases here, but did anyone see the Almodovar film 'Tie me up, tie me down'? Two phrases which seem as though they ought to have opposite meanings, but which actually mean the same thing. I can't remember what the original Spanish title was, but I'm sure the English one is totally untranslatable for non-English speakers.
On the subject of words such as 'wicked' and 'terrific', the meanings of these words haven't actually changed, they have just been adopted as slang and subverted, if you like. The definitions of slang words are notoriously fuzzy - look at 'cool' and 'hot' - the definitions of these two diametrically opposite words are so fuzzy that they overlap.
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Carpal Tunnel
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the meanings of these words haven't actually changedAh, now you 'beg the question'! In what resides the meaning - a dictionary, or received opinion changeable from time to time? For my part, I would like to quote the bible: `When _I_ use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, `it means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor less.' `The question is,' said Alice, `whether you CAN make words mean so many different things.' `The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, `which is to be master-- that's all.' Through the Looking Glass http://ftp://uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu/pub/etext/gutenberg/etext91/lglass18.txtPS Loved the Almodovar, averyl
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Carpal Tunnel
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and going back more directly to the thread: `When you say "hill,"' the Queen interrupted, `_I_ could show you hills, in comparison with which you'd call that a valley.' `No, I shouldn't,' said Alice, surprised into contradicting her at last: `a hill CAN'T be a valley, you know. That would be nonsense--' The Red Queen shook her head, `You may call it "nonsense" if you like,' she said, `but I'VE heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!' Alice in Wonderland http://www.bragi.com/
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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"I doubt it happened"
The Victorians seem to be ambivalent about the use of "I doubt it ... ." cf "I doubt it," said the Carpenter, and shed a bitter tear. which does mean (i think) that he did not believe there was any real possibility of the sand being swept away.
But Dickens abounds with the usage that you refer to, Bingley, as does Trollope.
I think that it was apparent to the contemporary speakers (and readers) by the context in which the phrase appeared
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Carpal Tunnel
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I think some abivalence also applies to the word 'could'. A common expression here is 'I could care less' it means your are really at the lowest point in caring, caring less would be a physical and emotional impossibility. But the the dictionary definition of 'could' is the opposite; a past tense or a less forceful form of the word 'can'. So can you or can you not care less. Go figure.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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'I could care less'
I've always said "I couldn't care less". Not sure if I've ever heard 'I could care less' here.
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