birdlike 0 #1 August 29, 2008 Why do we have to have such idiocy in our language? How can the word SANCTION mean, at once, to IMPOSE PENALTY and also to GIVE APPROVAL?! Another bad one is "inflammable" and "flammable." They both mean the same thing?! How stupid is that?! What other examples can you come up with? C'mon, get good and angry! Spirits fly on dangerous missions Imaginations on fire Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #2 August 29, 2008 Quote Word History: Occasionally, a word can have contradictory meanings. Such a case is represented by sanction, which can mean both "to allow, encourage" and "to punish so as to deter." It is a borrowing from the Latin word sānctiō, meaning "a law or decree that is sacred or inviolable." In English, the word is first recorded in the mid-1500s in the meaning "law, decree," but not long after, in about 1635, it refers to "the penalty enacted to cause one to obey a law or decree." Thus from the beginning two fundamental notions of law were wrapped up in it: law as something that permits or approves and law that forbids by punishing. From the noun, a verb sanction was created in the 18th century meaning "to allow by law," but it wasn't until the second half of the 20th century that it began to mean "to punish (for breaking a law)." English has a few other words that can refer to opposites, such as the verbs dust (meaning both "to remove dust from" and "to put dust on") and trim (meaning both "to cut something away" and "to add something as an ornament"). Also see here How about to dust meaning either to clean dust away or to cover in dust (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scoop 0 #3 August 29, 2008 Endorsement It can mean some sort of confirmation or credit but can also mean some sort of penalty imposed. ie. can you endorse my application please VS. to have endorsements on your licence Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
birdlike 0 #4 August 29, 2008 Actually, I've never heard of "endorsement" being used negatively as you state. I thought that an "endorsement on your license" meant something like an additional rating, like the "motorcycle endorsement" that you can get here in Florida after taking training and an exam. Oh, I never liked the name of the Cessna "Citation" because the first thing I heard of to use that term was a traffic ticket given to penalize you for an infraction. But then, you can get a positive "Citation for Bravery" if you do something heroic. Face it, our language should have been made to be a lot more like MATH. Spirits fly on dangerous missions Imaginations on fire Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #5 August 29, 2008 MathS (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,151 #6 August 29, 2008 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_self-contradicting_words_in_English Just to save you some time.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rushmc 23 #7 August 29, 2008 When I saw the thread I thought you were commenting on Obama's speach "America will never be destroyed from the outside, if we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Abraham Lincoln Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
birdlike 0 #8 August 29, 2008 Quote MathS Go fucks yerself! Spirits fly on dangerous missions Imaginations on fire Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
birdlike 0 #9 August 29, 2008 Quote en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_self-contradicting_words_in_English Just to save you some time. Why thank you; who knew you could be such a sweetie?! I saw this listing on that link: "American urban slang, chiefly in the 1970s and 1980s, reassigned bad to mean "good". This is believed to have been introduced by African Americans based on a similar feature in a west African language." Um, are we really believing that urban American blacks somehow delved deep into a language none of them speak, from a country none of them have been to, to come up with the etymological reason why they use "bad" to mean "good"? OK. Right.Spirits fly on dangerous missions Imaginations on fire Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #10 August 29, 2008 Quote Quote MathS Go fucks yerself! (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
birdlike 0 #11 August 29, 2008 Quote When I saw the thread I thought you were commenting on Obama's speach First, I'd have to have bothered to watch that. Spirits fly on dangerous missions Imaginations on fire Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy9o8 2 #12 August 29, 2008 Quotecontradictory meanings in one word That happens in phrases, too. For example: "Peaceful Jeffrey" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
birdlike 0 #13 August 29, 2008 Yeah -- what's up with that guy?! Spirits fly on dangerous missions Imaginations on fire Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scoop 0 #14 August 29, 2008 QuoteActually, I've never heard of "endorsement" being used negatively as you state. So you don't think I'm making stuff up: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/EndorsementsAndDisqualifications/DG_10022425 Its the same with racing licences too. You have to get the application "endorsed" by an instructor to obtain them... yet if you get yourself in trouble and end up in front of the clerk of the course they can "endorse" your licence as well... but not in a good way. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy9o8 2 #15 August 29, 2008 That's not English, Scoop, that's British - the Beta version of the language. Fortunately, we perfected it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
birdlike 0 #16 August 29, 2008 Quote That's not English, Scoop, that's British - the Beta version of the language. Fortunately, we perfected it. I'm passing the torch of American Arrogance. Here ya go, Andy. Spirits fly on dangerous missions Imaginations on fire Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #17 August 29, 2008 oh that's a large enough torch for both of you (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scoop 0 #18 August 29, 2008 QuoteThat's not English, Scoop, that's British - the Beta version of the language. Fortunately, we perfected it. *sits down and drinks tea and dunks a rich tea biscuit triumphantly* Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
birdlike 0 #19 August 29, 2008 Quote Quote That's not English, Scoop, that's British - the Beta version of the language. Fortunately, we perfected it. *sits down and drinks tea and dunks a rich tea biscuit triumphantly* "Triumphantly"? Need I remind you, you limeys LOST the war... Spirits fly on dangerous missions Imaginations on fire Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,151 #20 August 30, 2008 Quote Quote Quote That's not English, Scoop, that's British - the Beta version of the language. Fortunately, we perfected it. *sits down and drinks tea and dunks a rich tea biscuit triumphantly* "Triumphantly"? Need I remind you, you limeys LOST the war... Which one is THE war? 1812?... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy9o8 2 #21 August 30, 2008 The War of 1812 was essentially a net stalemate, hardly what one might expect of the (putative) most powerful empire in the world. Maybe you're thinking of the Falklands, where the Brits preserved the God-given right to herd sheep and drive on the wrong-hand side of the road on a tiny, remote island on the other side of the world. Yes, that must be it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #22 August 30, 2008 Quote Maybe you're thinking of the Falklands, where the Brits preserved the God-given right to self-determination, to herd sheep and drive on the wrong-hand correct side of the road on a tiny, remote island on the other side of the world. Yes, that must be it. (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
birdlike 0 #23 August 31, 2008 Quote Quote Quote Quote That's not English, Scoop, that's British - the Beta version of the language. Fortunately, we perfected it. *sits down and drinks tea and dunks a rich tea biscuit triumphantly* "Triumphantly"? Need I remind you, you limeys LOST the war... Which one is THE war? 1812? In context, without attempts at obvious obfuscation, kallend? The War for American Independence.Spirits fly on dangerous missions Imaginations on fire Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jakee 1,596 #24 August 31, 2008 Quote Quote Quote Quote Quote That's not English, Scoop, that's British - the Beta version of the language. Fortunately, we perfected it. *sits down and drinks tea and dunks a rich tea biscuit triumphantly* "Triumphantly"? Need I remind you, you limeys LOST the war... Which one is THE war? 1812? In context, without attempts at obvious obfuscation, kallend? The War for American Independence. Only because you were bailed out by the FrenchDo you want to have an ideagasm? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
birdlike 0 #25 August 31, 2008 Quote Quote Quote Quote Quote Quote That's not English, Scoop, that's British - the Beta version of the language. Fortunately, we perfected it. *sits down and drinks tea and dunks a rich tea biscuit triumphantly* "Triumphantly"? Need I remind you, you limeys LOST the war... Which one is THE war? 1812? In context, without attempts at obvious obfuscation, kallend? The War for American Independence. Only because you were bailed out by the French Plus, we got this cool-ass statue of one tough, matronly lookin' broad! Spirits fly on dangerous missions Imaginations on fire Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
