Words that mean the opposite
Words that mean the opposite
(OP)
In the well spoken suburbs of England it's common to hear expressions such as 'awfully' (or 'terribly') good when awful means the opposite to what is intended. Any other examples of opposite adverbs/adjectives anyone?
corus





RE: Words that mean the opposite
As a non-English individual it is hard to understand. "Few" means "not many" - I think. Why, then, does "Quite a few" mean "many"?
Gunnar Englund
www.gke.org
RE: Words that mean the opposite
"Quite a few" seems a rhetorical device to convey something markedly different from the literal meaning.
These figures of speech would be called antiphrasis as when saying "eighty years young".
They could also be called oxymorons as in "the wisest fool in Christendom".
RE: Words that mean the opposite
corus
RE: Words that mean the opposite
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RE: Words that mean the opposite
It is worth remembering that the primary meaning of "awful" is "capable of inspiring awe". A biblical reference to "an awful God" is NOT in any way derogatory. That is, "awful" is (almost) identical in meaning to "awesome". (I am here referring to "awesome" as used in its "conventional" sense, not its modern slang meaning of "good". It's getting harder and harder to provide clear meanings of words, when the meaning of so many other words is also evolving rapidly!)
The conventional modern usage meaning "very bad" only dates from around 1800. Over time since then, it has evolved further to become a general intensifier, which gets its sense from the context (e.g. "awful weather", "awfully kind of you", etc.)
RE: Words that mean the opposite
Good Luck
johnwm
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RE: Words that mean the opposite
(PS, I echo Johnwm's sentiment)
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Words that mean the opposite
RE: Words that mean the opposite
RE: Words that mean the opposite
The use of just plain "bad" for "good" seems to be fading, but "bad-ass" is alive and well.
For that matter, the "-ass" intensifier could be seen as an example of something that ought to be bad but isn't necessarily.
Hg
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RE: Words that mean the opposite
In the sense of "inspiring terror".
Then there's "nominally", which means two different things, just similar enough to inspire confusion when traded between British and American engineers.
A.
RE: Words that mean the opposite
This form of speech is called euphimism.
Other example
Break a leg - for wishing good luck
Costas
RE: Words that mean the opposite
RE: Words that mean the opposite
Only in the northeast, and I think it's usually used as an intensifier ("wicked cool"). In northern parts of CA, "hella" is an intensifier or an indicator of large quantities. Hence the joke "how many northern californians does it take to screw in a lightbulb? hella." (not a very good joke, really, as "hella" would never be used alone, but in conjunction with some item or adjective "hella their guys came outta the van" or "hella cool.")
RE: Words that mean the opposite
I've read that Spanish explorers purposely reversed the names of these two islands on maps so that anyone who'd pilfered a map would be tempted to sail to Greenland rather than Iceland.
regards,
Hydroformer
RE: Words that mean the opposite
As in, "That's just perfect." Meaning something is really messed up.
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
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RE: Words that mean the opposite
Look it up
RE: Words that mean the opposite
The Cape of Good Hope was renamed from the Cape of Storms, for reasons very similar to the Pacific Ocean.
I did not think the Spanish had anything to do with Greenland and Iceland. I believe "Greenland" was an attempt to sell a trip to a new land with a homicidal Viking explorer.
Lord Woodhouselee's Universal History starts off with a discussion of the sacred and the profane historians. I was shocked to see phrase "the sacred and the profane" used that way, but it makes sense, at least to an early nineteenth century historian.
Consider the terms "idiot", "moron", "mental retard" and "intellectually challenged". The terms started off having fairly precise meanings, but they make such good insults.
JHG
RE: Words that mean the opposite
Of course, some words have changed meaning so much and in so short a time us older folk can be caught out.
I now have to be more discrete about the term "Gay" for example.
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Words that mean the opposite
v.tr.
To cause to become less natural, especially to make less naive and more worldly.
To make impure; adulterate.
To make more complex or inclusive; refine.
v.intr.
To use sophistry.
n.
A sophisticated person.
RE: Words that mean the opposite
It's bostin our kid
Blackcountryman
RE: Words that mean the opposite
corus
RE: Words that mean the opposite
RE: Words that mean the opposite
Good Luck
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As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein