Quote:
Posted by
Paul D.
...bad, sick & wicked, are now synonyms for good.
'Sick' is the more recent inversion, 'Bad' meant 'good' or 'cool' way, way back. The Michael Jackson song 'Bad' came out mid-eighties, and it was around before that. Wicked is also an oldie. When I was a kid, 'wicked' was often used for something wildly interesting or trendy.
This isn't just a sign of the times. English has always been on the move. Take the word '
Terrific', originally meaning 'that which induces terror', now it means 'exceptionally good'. '
Awful' used to mean 'full of awe', now it means 'exceptionally bad'. The word '
bemused' was once a synonym for confused, or entranced, as in placed under a spell, now it means wryly amused. '
Stay' was a formal term meaning 'to halt an action' (stay the execution), but this morphed into 'continue the action' (stay the course).
In British English, the word '
before', rather than meaning something in the past, meant 'in front of', as in 'the future is before us'. The word '
bound' has several meanings: 'going to', as in hellbound, or starbound, or, conversely, 'saying put' - bound in one place. '
Strike' usually means to 'hit', in baseball it means to 'miss'. '
Buckle' means 'hold', or 'secure tightly', but also 'fold up' or 'collapse'. And the word '
cool' again; it means both 'good' or 'agreeable' (that's a cool car), and 'not good / less than agreeable (he received a cool reception to his speech). '
I'm down' often means 'I'm sad', or 'depressed'; '
I'm down with..' means I'm positively disposed towards something. '
Take care of' used to mean 'to assist or nurture', it has also taken on the meaning 'to destroy or eliminate' (I took care of that wasp's nest). '
Execute': start a process,
Execute: end one (take someone's life).
English is a minefield!
When your kid's teacher tells you 'Your child is trying', does that mean they're doing their best, or that they're hard to endure?' :lol:
English is constantly evolving, transforming, mutating. Take these further examples of 'linguistic drift':
Cleave: "to cling to" or "to split apart"
Clip: to "attach" or "cut off"
Dust: "to remove dust" (cleaning a house) or "to add dust" (to dust a cake with powdered sugar)
Fast: "without moving; fixed in place", (holding fast, also as in "steadfast"), or "moving quickly"
Overlook: "watch closely" or "fail to notice"
Sanction: "to approve" or "to penalize"
Here's a list of
homophonic contranyms, which are words that sound the same but generally contradict each other:
enumerable / innumerable: countable / beyond countable
raise / raze: build up / cut down
petalless / petalous: without petals / with petals
oral / aural: pertaining to the mouth or speech / pertaining to the ears
prescribe / proscribe: authorize / prohibit
resign / re-sign: cease working for / continue working for (pronounced slightly differently)
There are also many words with the same spelling and pronunciation, like
impregnable: (impossible to enter / able to be entered and impregnated)
inflammable: (flammable / nonflammable)
left: (that which is gone / that which remains)
moot: (open for debate, discussion / irrelevant to debate, discussion)
off: (stopped operating -
'I turned the TV off' / started operating -
'the starter pistol went off'
out: (visible)
-the stars are out / (not visible)
-the lights went out
outstanding: (prominent, excellent / unresolved, overdue).
Et cetera!
