# Are there any words that have come to mean the exact opposite of their original meaning? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 26, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624 "2010-06-26T21:03:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/121 "2010-07-01T20:32:04Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Ivan the Terrible got that name _in spite of_, not because of, his, well, “terrible” personality. He’s sometimes instead called John the Awesome, in English. And Ethelred the Unready wasn 't unprepared , he simply wouldn’t listen to advice. But that’s not an opposite so much as a separate meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/122 "2010-07-01T21:18:17Z")
> [@RedSwinglineOne](#): > > I think you are being far to generous. To use a word as hyperbole, that by definition means “I am not using hyperbole”, would be stupid. I think what is happening is that we have lots of people that don’t know the meaning of the word. They know it is a modifier, and they recognize the usual sentence construction, (literally, followed by an eggagerated statement), and have no idea that it makes no sense, or could be misleading. I disagree, here. I know “literally” is misused a lot these days, I’m even guilty of it sometimes, but the point is precisely what you think makes no sense : to use an adjective which means “no hyperbole there” in order to \*reinforce or underline \*the hyperbole being used. Kind of like saying “I’m not making this up” when you obviously are, the dissonance makes the intended meaning all the more interesting/striking. Either that or it introduces a doubt in your listener’s mind for a second, during which time they really wonder whether or not your are, in fact, making this shit up. IMO at least, that’s the original objective of that construct. It literally sinks like a lead balloon these days, thanks to overuse. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/123 "2010-07-01T21:23:14Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > The writer of the above was explaining the expression “the exception proves the rule”. His point was that it originally meant, logically enough, that “the exception tests the rule”, in that unless you have some explanation the rule is refuted. Nowadays, the word prove has come to mean “conclusively demonstrate”, and the phrase has come to have the opposite meaning that it originally had. I’ve always heard that “the exception proves the rule” originally came from legalistic verbiage. That is to say, a given law applies to all cases that are not specified in its exceptions and/or the opposite of the law applies in all cases not specifically mentioned by the law. E.g. “parking allowed on Sundays” means you can’t park there on any day but a Sunday, whereas “no Sunday parking” means it’s OK to park there any other day of the week. ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/124 "2010-07-01T23:18:16Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > I disagree, here… > …the dissonance makes the intended meaning all the more interesting/striking… Well, we can agree to disagree. I think you may be guilty of thinking the average person is smarter than they are. When Jethro says he ‘done see’d a mouse, litrally bigger than his trailer’, I tend to believe he is ignorant, not some cunning linguist who creates mind twisting witicisms by using a non-hyperbole to reinforce his tired old hyperbole. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/125 "2010-07-02T03:14:49Z")
The word “factoid” was created for statements that _seem_ like fact, but are in fact false. Repetition will make them accepted; these are things like “Fargo is the capital of North Dakota.” Nowadays, it means “strange but true” facts. These are by definition true. So while the exact meaning of the term didn’t go to the opposite, it originally described falsities, and now describes truths. ---
**Author:** ![SantaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@SantaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SantaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/126 "2010-07-02T05:59:03Z")
I have always assumed that “dope” in urban usage for “good” came from a reaction to the anti-drug commercial tag line “Why do you think they call it dope?” ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/127 "2010-07-02T11:13:52Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Silly example but you see my point. The second person can’t express their actual condition if literally is just used meaninglessly like in the first example. Yes, I call it hyperbole creep. I’m sure actual etymologists have a proper term for it. You start with a perfectly good word which means something specific and then people start to use it as hyperbole and at first it has great effect (because people are used to it being a word that is used to mean what it means). Then as people slowly become used to the idea that it is a word that is thrown around carelessly as a term of general emphasis it loses its value as hyperbole, so the hyperbolist has to move on to abuse of some other word, and so it goes. > [@RedSwinglineOne](#): > > Well, we can agree to disagree. I think you may be guilty of thinking the average person is smarter than they are. When Jethro says he ‘done see’d a mouse, litrally bigger than his trailer’, I tend to believe he is ignorant, not some cunning linguist who creates mind twisting witicisms by using a non-hyperbole to reinforce his tired old hyperbole. I fail to see how this makes a jot of sense. You are saying that the theoretical ignorant Jethro is too dumb to know that by saying his exaggeration is true (ie literal) he is adding emphasis. I would guess that the average kid learns to add emphasis by swearing to the truth of their description of something at the age of about five. Actually, my not quite four year old knows this. “It really _was_, Daddy!” At the same time, you seem to think Jethro is ethical and smart enough to carefully indicate that his hyperbole is just that, and he indicates this by saying “literally” by which he intends to convey that his statement is figurative. So he’s a kind of dumbass ignorant genius post-modernist Jethro? ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/128 "2010-07-02T11:36:19Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Yes, I call it hyperbole creep. I’m sure actual etymologists have a proper term for it. You start with a perfectly good word which means something specific and then people start to use it as hyperbole and at first it has great effect (because people are used to it being a word that is used to mean what it means). Then as people slowly become used to the idea that it is a word that is thrown around carelessly as a term of general emphasis it loses its value as hyperbole, so the hyperbolist has to move on to abuse of some other word, and so it goes. So 40 years in the future, people will be saying “A was listening to the pitch from the used car salesman and I was up to my knees in bullshit. This actually happened, not hyperbolic bullshit, I mean these events actually transpired, literally” will be just an emphatic phrase? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/129 "2010-07-02T16:48:28Z")
Well this is an interesting which I stumbled across today by accident (i.e. was not trying to find something for this thread but thought it fit when I did find it). How about a word that means one thing and the opposite thing at the same time? > [@](#): > > Main Entry: dis·cur·sive > Pronunciation: \dis-ˈkər-siv > Function: adjective > Etymology: Medieval Latin discursivus, from Latin discursus, past participle of discurrere to run about — more at discourse > Date: 1598 > > 1 a : moving from topic to topic without order : rambling b : proceeding coherently from topic to topic > > SOURCE: [DISCURSIVE Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discursive) Still trying to puzzle that one out. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/130 "2010-07-02T17:20:41Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Well this is an interesting which I stumbled across today by accident (i.e. was not trying to find something for this thread but thought it fit when I did find it). > > How about a word that means one thing and the opposite thing at the same time? How about [Overlook](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/overlook)? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/131 "2010-07-02T17:41:03Z")
> [@Dan\_Norder](#): > > Dude used to mean a well dressed dandy and now, thanks to surfer culture, typically means just about the opposite. One of my son’s friends just had his first name legally changed to “Dude” (pronounced, if his peers are any indication, “_Duuuude…_”). No, he is _not_ a well-dressed dandy. ---
**Author:** ![davekhps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@davekhps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davekhps)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/132 "2010-07-02T18:49:31Z")
To briefly revisit the flammable/inflammable discussion… I too never understood why we had two words for one until a few years ago an epiphany struck me out of the blue: the root of inflammable is _inflame_, which everyone understands as a positive act of burning/stoking a fire. But since no one pronounces it inflame-able, but instead inflamm-able, people forget what it meant. ---
**Author:** ![Flipshod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f19dbf/32.png) [@Flipshod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flipshod)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2010, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/133 "2010-07-05T00:00:33Z")
In court, “continue” means stop. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/134 "2010-07-05T03:55:45Z")
The word “suffer” comes to mind. It used to mean “allow”. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/135 "2010-07-05T04:05:34Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > The word “suffer” comes to mind. It used to mean “allow”. “But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14 The Smiths and Napalm Death played with that phrase. Looks like Tears for Fears used both meanings. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/136 "2010-07-06T20:08:00Z")
> [@davekhps](#): > > To briefly revisit the flammable/inflammable discussion… I too never understood why we had two words for one until a few years ago an epiphany struck me out of the blue: the root of inflammable is _inflame_, which everyone understands as a positive act of burning/stoking a fire. I’ve also noticed in the past that no one confuses “ingenious” to mean “not genius.” ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/137 "2010-07-06T23:40:44Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > I fail to see how this makes a jot of sense. You are saying that the theoretical ignorant Jethro is too dumb to know that by saying his exaggeration is true (ie literal) he is adding emphasis. I am not **RedSwinglineOne** , but after reading this thread, it seems to me that you are still missing his point. The ignorance that he is ascribing to Jethro is to the actual meaning of the word “literally”. In other words, he’s saying that Jethro (and many real people) simply does not know what the actual, correct meaning of the word “literally” is. They have heard other people use it for, as you say, emphasis, and simply do the same. Put a third way, it’s not that “Jethro is too dumb to know that by saying his exaggeration is true (ie literal) he is adding emphasis”, it is that Jethro is too dumb to even know that he _is_ saying that his exaggeration is true. Put a fourth way, the next time you hear someone say something like, “That mouse was literally as big as a house!”, ask them to define “literally”. I will bet you that the majority of people will have no clue that the word actually means “actually; without exaggeration or inaccuracy”. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/138 "2010-07-06T23:43:21Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > How about a word that means one thing and the opposite thing at the same time? Probably the most common is “dust”. As a verb, it means both “to add dust (as a noun)” and “to remove dust (as a noun)”. ---
**Author:** ![Staver808](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Staver808](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staver808)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/139 "2010-07-07T01:50:31Z")
I don’t know if this counts. But Nimrod in the bible was a great hunter and a feared warrior(jock). Now a nimrod is an idiot(dork) instead. I know an idiot isn’t the opposite of warrior, but taken in the high school context of jock vs dweeb, it is. ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624/140 "2010-07-07T22:48:07Z")
Thanks, **Roadfood**. You [del]literally[/del] took the words right out of my mouth. I would only add that when used correctly, the word ‘literally’ does not add emphasis. It adds clarity by indicating that the statement, which might tend to be taken figuratively, should be taken word for word. If you want to add emphasis, there are many words better suited to do so. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-words-that-have-come-to-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-their-original-meaning/544624.md?page=8)