A question on ‘opposites’: specifically, is there a difference between an ‘exact opposite’ and a ‘polar opposite’, or are they exactly the same thing? A google search and search of the boards haven’t helped, so I thought I’d pose the question here. I’ll be perfectly content if it turns out they’re the same thing, just as long as i know they are.
They are the same thing.
Yup, as far as today’s usage goes, the same thing.
Haj
I agree that for my own personal usage they are the same thing. Phillosophically they may be regarded as not at all the same thing.
Polar opposites brings to mind the north pole and the south pole for example. While they may be as far from one another as possible within the given parameters, they are not “exact opposites” in any sense other than geographically.
They are both “poles” and they are both constrained by the context of being within the same sphere of physical influence.
So, what is the exact opposite of the north pole? Maybe the equator? Maybe there is no such thing as an exact opposite for anything other than in the most subjective terms. After all, “white” may seem to be the opposite of “black” but a) the are both representations of percieved light conditions and b) neither accounts for the differing perceptions of different optical receptors.
I suppose if one were extremely anal one would use “exact opposite” with the waiver that the expressed opposite is subjective and avoid any arguments that way.