\
  The most prestigious law school admissions discussion board in the world.
BackRefresh Options Favorite

Words that have two meanings that are opposites: let's bash these TTTs

fucking "deceptively" "the question was de...
dull apoplectic stag film
  02/15/22
Oversight
Wonderful Nighttime Boiling Water
  02/15/22
ooh good one! "this oversight was a result of a seri...
dull apoplectic stag film
  02/15/22
That's not a function of the word but of pragmatics pertaini...
vibrant ultramarine theater
  02/15/22
fine - i mean words that CAN, depending on context, mean two...
dull apoplectic stag film
  02/15/22
Broadly speaking, any word can have two opposite meanings in...
vibrant ultramarine theater
  02/15/22
credited analysis ty!! i don't necessarily share your inter...
dull apoplectic stag film
  02/15/22
need julia here
scarlet house clown
  02/15/22
inflammable
cyan fragrant property
  02/15/22
(dr. nick)
bateful shitlib
  02/15/22
well the issue with that one is that the two words sound lik...
dull apoplectic stag film
  02/15/22
cleave
Brindle Curious Range Mexican
  02/15/22
titc cleave
dull apoplectic stag film
  02/15/22
that one was my contribution the last time we did this threa...
Dead racy spot
  02/16/22
so far oversight is the only one
overrated big hall
  02/15/22
Sanction
Fishy Drunken Abode
  02/15/22
...
tan irate goal in life hell
  02/15/22
another good one!
dull apoplectic stag film
  02/15/22
faggot
learning disabled queen of the night
  02/15/22
🤔🤔🤔
dull apoplectic stag film
  02/15/22
Overlook
Fishy Drunken Abode
  02/15/22
cr similar to oversight
dull apoplectic stag film
  02/15/22
They're called contronyms btw, u can find huge lists
Fishy Drunken Abode
  02/15/22
tyty! it would be funny if "contronym" also meant...
dull apoplectic stag film
  02/15/22
...
Fishy Drunken Abode
  02/16/22
...
vibrant ultramarine theater
  02/15/22
science
lilac toilet seat step-uncle's house
  02/15/22
lol, fair
dull apoplectic stag film
  02/15/22
cavalier
Exhilarant mentally impaired state gunner
  02/15/22
rly? what are the two meanings?
dull apoplectic stag film
  02/15/22
moot
violet soul-stirring theatre boistinker
  02/15/22
whoa i didn't even know it had the "debatable" mea...
dull apoplectic stag film
  02/15/22
...
oomox
  04/07/26


Poast new message in this thread



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:16 PM
Author: dull apoplectic stag film

fucking "deceptively"

"the question was deceptively simple" can mean that it seems simple but isn't, OR that it doesn't seem simple but it is

WHYYY

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974432)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:17 PM
Author: Wonderful Nighttime Boiling Water

Oversight

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974433)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:18 PM
Author: dull apoplectic stag film

ooh good one!

"this oversight was a result of a serious lack of oversight"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974437)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:18 PM
Author: vibrant ultramarine theater

That's not a function of the word but of pragmatics pertaining to the properties of the question. I thought this thread was about stuff like innervate / enervate.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974438)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:22 PM
Author: dull apoplectic stag film

fine - i mean words that CAN, depending on context, mean two things that are opposites*

but innervate/enervate is welcome here too, equally TTT

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974453)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:35 PM
Author: vibrant ultramarine theater

Broadly speaking, any word can have two opposite meanings in the sense you mean if you vary the pragmatics—that is why irony is possible and so rich in language. Your issue seems to be with imprecision introduced by using a word like "deceptively" to modify an adjective, since there's ambiguity about whether what is "deceptive" is the easiness or the initial appearance while the true nature is easy.

The meaning can be cleaned up a bit by just modifying the word order and punctuation:

"Deceptively, the test was simple" to my ear sounds like the test was in fact simple;

"The test was simple—deceptively" sounds to me like it appeared simple but that appearance was deceptive.

Still, all told this is an unfortunate construction and best avoided altogether save when strategic ambiguity is the goal.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974532)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:41 PM
Author: dull apoplectic stag film

credited analysis ty!! i don't necessarily share your interpretations of the two examples you gave, but good call about the ambiguity of what "deceptively" is modifying

and yeah i realized after poasting that someone was probably going to point out that ANY word can mean diff things based on context >__>

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974553)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:22 PM
Author: scarlet house clown

need julia here

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974454)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:23 PM
Author: cyan fragrant property

inflammable

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974458)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:24 PM
Author: bateful shitlib

(dr. nick)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974466)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:26 PM
Author: dull apoplectic stag film

well the issue with that one is that the two words sound like opposites but are synonyms. also TTT. i'm guessing the "in" is from "inflame" but i'm too lazy to verify

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974475)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:24 PM
Author: Brindle Curious Range Mexican

cleave

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974462)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:26 PM
Author: dull apoplectic stag film

titc cleave

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974477)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 16th, 2022 3:06 PM
Author: Dead racy spot

that one was my contribution the last time we did this thread

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43978151)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:25 PM
Author: overrated big hall

so far oversight is the only one

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974468)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:27 PM
Author: Fishy Drunken Abode

Sanction

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974480)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:27 PM
Author: tan irate goal in life hell



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974481)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:28 PM
Author: dull apoplectic stag film

another good one!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974485)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:27 PM
Author: learning disabled queen of the night

faggot

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974482)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:34 PM
Author: dull apoplectic stag film

🤔🤔🤔

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974524)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:29 PM
Author: Fishy Drunken Abode

Overlook

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974492)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:31 PM
Author: dull apoplectic stag film

cr similar to oversight

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974509)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:30 PM
Author: Fishy Drunken Abode

They're called contronyms btw, u can find huge lists

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974499)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:32 PM
Author: dull apoplectic stag film

tyty! it would be funny if "contronym" also meant "words that sound like antonyms but are synonyms"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974513)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 16th, 2022 3:04 PM
Author: Fishy Drunken Abode



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43978133)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:36 PM
Author: vibrant ultramarine theater



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974536)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:33 PM
Author: lilac toilet seat step-uncle's house

science

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974519)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:42 PM
Author: dull apoplectic stag film

lol, fair

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974557)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:34 PM
Author: Exhilarant mentally impaired state gunner

cavalier

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974525)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:43 PM
Author: dull apoplectic stag film

rly? what are the two meanings?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974559)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:35 PM
Author: violet soul-stirring theatre boistinker

moot

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974531)



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:44 PM
Author: dull apoplectic stag film

whoa i didn't even know it had the "debatable" meaning; i always just used it to mean "irrelevant"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#43974567)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 7th, 2026 10:21 PM
Author: oomox



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5032956&forum_id=2...#49802525)