Lederer on Language: Curious and contrary contronyms look in both directions

Here’s a little finger exercise. Make a circle with the fingers on your left hand by touching the tip of your index finger to the tip of your thumb. Now poke your head through thatcircle.

If you unsuccessfully tried to fit your head through the small digital circle, you thought that the phrase “poke your head” meant that your head was the poker. But if you raised your lefthand with the circle of fingers up close to your forehead and poked your right index finger through that circle until it touched your forehead, you realized that the phrase “poke your head” has a second, and opposite, meaning: that the head is the pokee.

Occasionally, two diametrically opposed meanings of the same English word survive, and the technical term for these same-words-opposite meanings pairs is contronyms. They are also known as Janus words because the Roman god Janus had two faces that looked in opposite directions.

Now gaze upon a sampling of contronymic sentences that show how words wander wondrously:

out. visible, invisible. a. The moon is out, b. The lights are out.

with. alongside; against: a. England fought with France against Germany. b. England fought with France.

clip. fasten; separate: a. Clip the coupon to the newspaper. b. Clip the coupon from the newspaper.

fast. firmly in one place; rapidly from one place to another: a. The pegs held the tent fast. b. She ran fast.

bolt. to secure in place; to dart away: a. I’ll bolt the door. b. I saw the horse bolt.

trim. add things to; cut away: a. Let’s trim the Christmas tree, b. Let’s trim the hedge.

dust. remove material from; spread material on: a. Three times a week they dust the floor. b. Three times each season they dust the crops.

weather. withstand; wear away: a. Strong ships weather storms. b. Wind can weather rocks.

hold up. support; hinder: a. Please hold up the sagging branch. b. Accidents hold up the flow of traffic.

keep up. continue to fall; continue to stay up: a. The farmers hope that the rain will keep up. b. Damocles hoped that the sword above his head would keep up.

left. departed from; remaining: a. Ten people left the room. b. Five people were left in theroom.

dress. put items on; remove items from: a. Let’s dress for the ball. b. Let’s dress the chicken for cooking.

temper. soften; strengthen: a. You must temper your anger with reason. b. Factories temper steel with additives.

cleave. separate; adhere firmly: a. A strong blow will cleave a plank in two. b. Bits of metal cleave to a magnet.

give out. produce; stop producing: a. A good furnace will give out enough energy to heat the house. b. A broken furnace will often give out.sanction. give approval of; censure: a. The NCAA plans to sanction the event. b. Should the U.S. impose a new sanction on Russia?

oversight. careful supervision; neglect: a. The foreman was responsible for the oversight of the project. b. The foreman’s oversight ruined the success of the project.

qualified. competent; limited: a. The candidate for the job was fully qualified. b. The dance was a qualified success.

buckle. fasten together; fall apart: a. Safe drivers buckle their seat belts. b. Unsafe buildings buckle at the slightest tremor of the earth.

trip. to stumble; to move gracefully: a. Don’t trip on the curb. b. Let’s trip the light fantastic.

put out. generate; extinguish: a. The candle put out enough light for us to see. b. Before I went to bed, I put out the candle.

wear. endure through use; decay through use: a. This suit will wear like iron. b. Water can cause mountains to wear.

fix. restore, remove part of: a. It’s time to fix the fence. b. It’s time to fix the bull.

seeded. with seeds; without seeds: a. The rain nourished the seeded field. b. Would you like some seeded raisins?

critical. opposed; essential to: a. Joanne is critical of our effort. b. Joanne is critical to our effort.

wind up. start; end: a. I have to wind up my watch. b. Now I have to wind up this discussion of curious and contrary contronyms.

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I’ll be performing “A Treasury of Christmas Humor” on Dec. 10, 1 p.m., at the Point Loma Library; on Dec. 11, 10 a.m., at Grossmont Oasis; on Dec. 17, 10 a.m., at Rancho Bernardo Oasis; and, on Dec. 20, 11 a.m., at the Scripps Ranch Miramar Library.

Please send your questions and comments about language to richardhlederer@gmail.com website: www.verbivore.com