It started when I saw this on Jackie's Junk Boat Travels.
It eventually led me to explore 75 Contronyms at Daily Writing Tips.
Admit it. You know you want to see the whole list. Here it is.
I love these.
I'm most taken, I think, with "fine" meaning both "excellent" and "good enough,"
and "mean" meaning both "average" or "excellent."
Which one do you like best?
Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered, or spotlight words you love. Feel free to get creative! It was first created by Kathy over at Bermuda Onion and is now hosted at Elza Reads.
I love contronyms, thank you for sharing this list, and I'm going to share it with my husband!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful. I wouldn't know which one to pick as my favourite, they are all fantastic. Same as LyzzyBee, I will share them with my hubby. Thanks, Deb.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to find which one I like best -- they are fascinating. I never really thought about this before.It sounds like something you'd find on Jeopardy!
ReplyDeleteIt's common over here having words with double meanings
ReplyDeleteI used to ask someone how they were doing today and they always responded, "fair-to-middling" which sounds very similar to fine.
ReplyDeleteIt's fun to learn a new word.
ReplyDeleteI, too, like them all and it's hard to pick a favorite, but it might be quiddity, a word I don't ever remember hearing or reading. I'll have to try to find a way to work it into my conversation!
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of the word crontonym before, but these are great.
ReplyDeleteThis is great! I love it when a learn something. The English language is so strange.
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard of crontonyms before! I love learning new things. English is easy to learn but impossible to master!
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the header of your post, I had to think very hard what a contronym is again. Tired brain! I love these! I think I like left the most. I'm going to print these out and pin it on my notice board. The kids are going to enjoy it too!
ReplyDeleteMy week is a bit rough, hope yours is a whole lot better!
Thank you for sharing, how very useful. Especially for us non natural English speakers.
ReplyDeleteFun! I wonder if there's a word for a pair of words that look like they should mean the opposite but don't, like flammable and inflammable.
ReplyDeleteIf there isn't, there should be.
DeleteThanks, even though I knew the opposite meaning of many on this list, I didn't know they were a category, with a name. Off is a great one!
ReplyDeleteYes, I think women can use the word "fine" in two different tones!
ReplyDeleteNo wonder English is so hard to learn.
These are exelent. I can use them with my class. TY
ReplyDeleteI'll echo what Jeanie said, this would be a perfect Jeopardy question!
ReplyDelete