Hi - yet another newcomer to these pages, so please forgive any shortcomings.
At work a few days ago the word "ept" cropped up (meaning not inept), and started me thinking about similar nonexistent opposites. Ept reminded me of the classic "ert", and a little thinking yielded "gruntled" and "shevelled". I remember a novel featuring a character whose nickname was "reck" (not in the slightest bit reckless), which then led me on to "feck" and "hap", but that's as far as I got. I'm fairly sure I'm missing some much better, and much more common examples.
WARNING - some of these ostensibly nonexistent opposites may, in fact, exist; at least in a historical reference such as the OED. I know this to be true, for instance, of gruntle and feck....
You only talk dirty when the Gutter Police are on the road, huh?
Welcome to the board, goatboy - I have a feeling you will fit in just fine around here! My brain unfortunately has exited before I have tonight, so I will leave it to my more wittful brethren and sistren to talk sense with you on this lovely topic.
ruth Etymology: Middle English ruthe, from ruen to rue Date: 13th century 1 : compassion for the misery of another 2 : sorrow for one's own faults : REMORSE
ruthful - full of sorrow: woeful; full of ruth: pitiful
(I did warn you ;)
feck > You only talk dirty when the Gutter Police are on the road, huh? irrespective of the way it's used dialectally by the Irish, feck \Feck\, n. [Abbrev. fr. effect.] 1. Effect. [Obs.]
2. Efficacy; force; value. [Scot. & Prov. Eng.]
3. Amount; quantity. [Scot. & Prov. Eng.]
He had a feck o' books wi' him. --R. L. Stevenson.
The most feck, or The feck, the greater or larger part. ``The feck o' my life.'' --Burns.
How I Met my Wife by Jack Winter, published 25 July 1994 - The New Yorker
It had been a rough day, so when I walked into the party I was very chalant, despite my efforts to appear gruntled and consolate. I was furling my wieldy umbrella for the coat check when I saw her standing alone in a corner. She was a descript person, a woman in a state of total array. Her hair was kempt, her clothing shevelled, and she moved in a gainly way. I wanted desperately to meet her, but I knew I'd have to make bones about it since I was travelling cognito. Beknownst to me, the hostess, whom I could see both hide and hair of, was very proper, so it would be skin off my nose if anything bad happened. And even though I had only swerving loyalty to her, my manners couldn't be peccable. Only toward and heard-of behaviour would do. Fortunately, the embarrassment that my maculate appearance might cause was evitable. There were two ways about it, but the chances that someone as flappable as I would be ept enough to become persona grata or a sung hero were slim. I was, after all, something to sneeze at, someone you could easily hold a candle to, someone who usually aroused bridled passion. So I decided not to risk it. But then, all at once, for some apparent reason, she looked in my direction and smiled in a way that I could make heads and tails of. I was plussed. It was concerting to see that she was communicado, and it nerved me that she was interested in a pareil like me, sight seen. Normally, I had a domitable spirit, but, being corrigible, I felt capacitated -- as if this were something I was great shakes at -- and forgot that I had succeeded in situations like this only a told number of times. So, after a terminable delay, I acted with mitigated gall and made my way through the ruly crowd with strong givings. Nevertheless, since this was all new hat to me and I had no time to prepare a promptu speech, I was petuous. Wanting to make only called-for remarks, I started talking about the hors d'oeuvres, trying to abuse her of the notion that I was sipid, and perhaps even bunk a few myths about myself. She responded well, and I was mayed that she considered me a savoury character who was up to some good. She told me who she was. "What a perfect nomer," I said, advertently. The conversation become more and more choate, and we spoke at length to much avail. But I was defatigable, so I had to leave at a godly hour. I asked if she wanted to come with me. To my delight, she was committal. We left the party together and have been together ever since. I have given her my love, and she has requited it.
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