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

fucking "deceptively" "the question was de...
buck-toothed puppy spot
  02/15/22
Oversight
Onyx Boyish Meetinghouse
  02/15/22
ooh good one! "this oversight was a result of a seri...
buck-toothed puppy spot
  02/15/22
That's not a function of the word but of pragmatics pertaini...
racy mint point
  02/15/22
fine - i mean words that CAN, depending on context, mean two...
buck-toothed puppy spot
  02/15/22
Broadly speaking, any word can have two opposite meanings in...
racy mint point
  02/15/22
credited analysis ty!! i don't necessarily share your inter...
buck-toothed puppy spot
  02/15/22
need julia here
Aromatic fighting gas station sneaky criminal
  02/15/22
inflammable
laughsome double fault blood rage
  02/15/22
(dr. nick)
At-the-ready Turdskin
  02/15/22
well the issue with that one is that the two words sound lik...
buck-toothed puppy spot
  02/15/22
cleave
Lime bat shit crazy plaza athletic conference
  02/15/22
titc cleave
buck-toothed puppy spot
  02/15/22
that one was my contribution the last time we did this threa...
Mahogany karate
  02/16/22
so far oversight is the only one
Exhilarant library
  02/15/22
Sanction
vibrant really tough guy weed whacker
  02/15/22
...
Impressive godawful national security agency
  02/15/22
another good one!
buck-toothed puppy spot
  02/15/22
faggot
fiercely-loyal school cafeteria laser beams
  02/15/22
🤔🤔🤔
buck-toothed puppy spot
  02/15/22
Overlook
vibrant really tough guy weed whacker
  02/15/22
cr similar to oversight
buck-toothed puppy spot
  02/15/22
They're called contronyms btw, u can find huge lists
vibrant really tough guy weed whacker
  02/15/22
tyty! it would be funny if "contronym" also meant...
buck-toothed puppy spot
  02/15/22
...
vibrant really tough guy weed whacker
  02/16/22
...
racy mint point
  02/15/22
science
Bonkers University
  02/15/22
lol, fair
buck-toothed puppy spot
  02/15/22
cavalier
supple judgmental corner
  02/15/22
rly? what are the two meanings?
buck-toothed puppy spot
  02/15/22
moot
slap-happy nursing home patrolman
  02/15/22
whoa i didn't even know it had the "debatable" mea...
buck-toothed puppy spot
  02/15/22
...
oomox
  04/07/26


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Date: February 15th, 2022 9:16 PM
Author: buck-toothed puppy spot

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: Onyx Boyish Meetinghouse

Oversight

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



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:18 PM
Author: buck-toothed puppy spot

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: racy mint point

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: buck-toothed puppy spot

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: racy mint point

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: buck-toothed puppy spot

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)



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Date: February 15th, 2022 9:22 PM
Author: Aromatic fighting gas station sneaky criminal

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: laughsome double fault blood rage

inflammable

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



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:24 PM
Author: At-the-ready Turdskin

(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: buck-toothed puppy spot

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)



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Date: February 15th, 2022 9:24 PM
Author: Lime bat shit crazy plaza athletic conference

cleave

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



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:26 PM
Author: buck-toothed puppy spot

titc cleave

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



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Date: February 16th, 2022 3:06 PM
Author: Mahogany karate

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)



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Date: February 15th, 2022 9:25 PM
Author: Exhilarant library

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: vibrant really tough guy weed whacker

Sanction

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



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:27 PM
Author: Impressive godawful national security agency



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



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Date: February 15th, 2022 9:28 PM
Author: buck-toothed puppy spot

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: fiercely-loyal school cafeteria laser beams

faggot

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



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:34 PM
Author: buck-toothed puppy spot

🤔🤔🤔

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



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:29 PM
Author: vibrant really tough guy weed whacker

Overlook

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



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:31 PM
Author: buck-toothed puppy spot

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: vibrant really tough guy weed whacker

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: buck-toothed puppy spot

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: vibrant really tough guy weed whacker



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



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:36 PM
Author: racy mint point



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



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:33 PM
Author: Bonkers University

science

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



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:42 PM
Author: buck-toothed puppy spot

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: supple judgmental corner

cavalier

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



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:43 PM
Author: buck-toothed puppy spot

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: slap-happy nursing home patrolman

moot

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



Reply Favorite

Date: February 15th, 2022 9:44 PM
Author: buck-toothed puppy spot

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)