View Single Post
Old 09-20-2011, 07:00 AM   #236
pdurrant
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
pdurrant's Avatar
 
Posts: 74,082
Karma: 315558332
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Norfolk, England
Device: Kindle Oasis
Quote:
Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes View Post
I would not defend English. It is a bastard language.

Any language that has auto-antonyms (contronym, contranym) needs to be banned.
I can't argue with the bastardy. But surely every language has such words?

Looking over a list or two, I especially like the verb "to dust". Dusting a mantlepiece is certainly the opposite action to dusting a cake.

I wonder if other languages have words that should mean the opposite but actually mean the same thing. Flammable and inflammable are the only example I can think of in English.
pdurrant is offline   Reply With Quote