{"id":2174,"date":"2016-03-31T07:29:30","date_gmt":"2016-03-31T13:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=2174"},"modified":"2021-01-05T12:33:54","modified_gmt":"2021-01-05T18:33:54","slug":"autoantonyms-speak-with-a-forked-tongue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/definitions\/autoantonyms-speak-with-a-forked-tongue\/","title":{"rendered":"Autoantonyms Speak with a Forked Tongue"},"content":{"rendered":"

An\u00a0autoantonym<\/em>\u00a0(pronounced auto-ANTA-nim) is a word with two opposite meanings. A familiar example is the Hawaiian word\u00a0aloha<\/em>, which means both \u201chello\u201d and \u201cgoodbye.\u201d<\/p>\n

Autoantonyms (also known as\u00a0contranyms<\/em>,\u00a0contronyms<\/em>, and\u00a0Janus<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>words<\/em>) are not rare. We see, hear, and use them all the time. Too often, miscommunication ensues.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s awful when you think you said \u201cpurple\u201d but the whole world heard \u201cgreen.\u201d The great challenge of speaking and writing is to convey your intended meaning and avoid misunderstandings. This is why autoantonyms, with their split personalities, must be recognized and remedied before they do their mischief. Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n

Off<\/strong>\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t necessarily mean \u201cnot operating\u201d:\u00a0First the lights went off, then the alarm went off<\/em>. What happened after the lights went off? Did the power outage trigger the alarm system or shut it down?<\/p>\n

With<\/strong>\u00a0 This word can mean \u201cside by side\u201d or \u201cin opposition to.\u201d\u00a0Maxine fought with Charles to gain custody of her daughter<\/em>. It is unclear whether Charles was helping or hindering Maxine in her efforts to gain custody.<\/p>\n

Finished<\/strong>\u00a0 Accomplished successfully or ruined?\u00a0Thanks to my investors, this film is finished<\/em>. Either the investors\u2019 generosity was instrumental in the film\u2019s completion or their interference doomed the project.<\/p>\n

Oversight<\/strong>\u00a0 It is the act of rigorously keeping your eye on something or negligently taking your eye off something.\u00a0\u00a0Your oversight proved to be the difference between success and failure\u00a0<\/em>could mean \u201cyour diligence was crucial to our success\u201d or \u201cyour carelessness caused us to fail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trim<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0After we trimmed our Christmas tree, it was a perfect fit for the living room<\/em>.\u00a0<\/em>Did the family adorn the tree or prune it?<\/p>\n

Left<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Who\u2019s left?<\/em>\u00a0It can mean \u201cWho has departed?\u201d or \u201cWho is still here?\u201d<\/p>\n

Some autoantonyms are phrases, even complete sentences. The expression\u00a0I could care less<\/em>\u00a0has befuddled linguists for decades because it usually means \u201cI could\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>care less.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hipster culture devises autoantonyms to confound society\u2019s mainstream. Throughout most of the twentieth century,\u00a0jive<\/em>\u00a0meant both \u201cjazzy, swinging\u201d and \u201cempty, fraudulent.\u201d For over fifty years,\u00a0bad\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0wicked\u00a0<\/em>have been hip terms for \u201cgreat.\u201d More recently,\u00a0sick<\/em>\u00a0has come to mean \u201cridiculously excellent.\u201d A\u00a0bomb<\/em>\u00a0used to be an embarrassing flop, but all that changed when\u00a0it\u2019s da bomb!\u00a0<\/em>became high praise.<\/p>\n

The standard definition of\u00a0uptight<\/em>\u00a0is \u201cinhibited, unable to enjoy life.\u201d But it once meant \u201cas good as it gets.\u201d The singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder scored a big hit with his 1966 album\u00a0Up-Tight<\/em>. Would Wonder have chosen an album title that meant \u201cinhibited\u201d?<\/p>\n

Slim chance\u2014or, to put it another way, fat chance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An\u00a0autoantonym\u00a0(pronounced auto-ANTA-nim) is a word with two opposite meanings. A familiar example is the Hawaiian word\u00a0aloha, which means both \u201chello\u201d and \u201cgoodbye.\u201d Autoantonyms (also known as\u00a0contranyms,\u00a0contronyms, and\u00a0Janus\u00a0words) are not rare. We see, hear, and use them all the time. Too often, miscommunication ensues. It\u2019s awful when you think you said \u201cpurple\u201d but the whole world […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,53,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-definitions","category-idioms","category-vocabulary"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2174"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2174\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}