# Ever notice there's one letter difference betwen a friend and a fiend? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 21, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509 "2012-04-21T16:23:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/1 "2012-04-21T16:23:34Z")
A typo brought this to my attention. Friend and fiend are antonyms. Only one letter different. fiend a : devil 1 b : demon c : a person of great wickedness or maliciousness. 2. : a person extremely devoted to a pursuit or study : fanatic \. 3 Friend 1 a : one attached to another by affection or esteem b : acquaintance 2 a : one that is not hostile b : one that is of the same nation, party, or group 3: one that favors or promotes something (as a charity) 4: a favored companion **SDMB Challenge** ; Can you list more antonyms one letter apart? ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/2 "2012-04-21T16:38:12Z")
Purify Putrefy (Okay, two letters…) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/3 "2012-04-21T17:17:06Z")
It’s been noticed before. Director Werner Herzog’s biography of his favorite actor and adversary, the nearly insane Klaus Kinski, is entitled _My Best Fiend_. Herzog claims he and Kinski at one point plotted to have one another killed. There was also an episode of Rocky and Bullwinkle where Boris Badanov stole a letter and changed the title of the show to _Rocky and His Fiends._ ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/4 "2012-04-21T17:23:45Z")
Well, that does explain why pirates are always running around saying “r”. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/5 "2012-04-21T17:31:48Z")
I thought of another one. 😃 Lover - Loser Your SO becomes a pathetic loser, in your mind, when you decide to dump them. In that context the words are antonyms. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/6 "2012-04-21T18:00:35Z")
Not quite antonyms, but … A charming wit is a few bad jokes away from becoming an insufferable twit. And marital strife hopefully has little in common with the martial kind. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/7 "2012-04-21T18:04:56Z")
therapist = the rapist ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/8 "2012-04-21T18:08:48Z")
I knew it because it was pointed out on an episode of Mr Wizard. I don’t remember what the experiment was, but he flipped a card up and put it down quickly. It said fiend and she kept reading it as friend. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/9 "2012-04-21T18:13:36Z")
united untied ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/10 "2012-04-21T18:30:18Z")
“Not” and “Now” are one of my bugbears. “I’m now ready” “I’m not ready” Bit of a difference there… ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/11 "2012-04-21T18:34:32Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > united > untied I’ll see your untied and raise you an obligatory [XKCD](http://xkcd.com/745/). ---
**Author:** ![chowching](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@chowching](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowching)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/12 "2012-04-22T04:47:50Z")
now here nowhere ---
**Author:** ![Dano83860](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a4c791/32.png) [@Dano83860](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dano83860)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/13 "2012-04-22T15:02:37Z")
I once heard a story about a teacher who gave students a word each day that they needed to rearrange into another word. He stopped the practice on the day he gave them the word spine. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/14 "2012-04-22T20:18:22Z")
Laughter, slaughter Though I’ve heard some comedians kill with a good joke. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/15 "2012-04-22T22:02:27Z")
This was the basis of my favorite Rocky and Bullwinkle commercial. After Boris complains in the commercial about always losing out, Bill Conrad, the narrator, ends with “Be sure to watch Rocky and his Fiends, I mean Friends. Who stole that R?” Boris “Never underestimate the power of a shnook.” ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/16 "2012-04-22T22:50:49Z")
There’s also only one letter’s difference between Friend and Diner, but only if you jumble it up. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/17 "2012-04-23T19:36:38Z")
My mother’s friend from long-ago days as a secretary is a poor typist (or just out of practice) and often typed ‘fiend’ for ‘friend’ in her letters. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/18 "2012-04-23T21:06:40Z")
Well, east and west differ by only one letter… but there’s a bit of rearrangement. ---
**Author:** ![LightWithoutHeattttttttttttttt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc8723/32.png) [@LightWithoutHeattttttttttttttt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LightWithoutHeattttttttttttttt)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/19 "2012-04-24T15:38:53Z")
Performing in a rock band I found out once that “go” and “no” have opposite meanings: What was actually said: Are you ready? No! How it was interpreted: Are you ready? Go! (still tuning up, and the drummer started the first song … aaaaarrrrrgggggghhhhhh!) ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/20 "2012-04-24T17:50:21Z")
Night and light? Feast and fast? The difference is more than one letter, but love and loathe are pretty opposite. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509.md?page=2)