# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/21 "2012-04-24T18:20:29Z")
> [@maggenpye](#): > > Laughter, slaughter SLaughter is the best medicine. –The Dark Night From Zero to Hero –The Mask ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/22 "2012-04-24T18:25:26Z")
Had you ever met any of my “friends” you’d soon see, spelling notwithstanding, there’s no difference at all. ---
**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 24, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/23 "2012-04-24T18:50:38Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > Feast and fast? That’s a good one! ---
**Author:** ![LegendHasit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/legendhasit/32/8246_2.png) [@LegendHasit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LegendHasit)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/24 "2012-04-24T19:36:17Z")
along the same theme: assuage sausage ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/25 "2012-04-24T19:47:05Z")
Description of a D&D paladin: “Starts with L, ends with D, and with awful goo in the middle” ---
**Author:** ![Ura-Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Ura-Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ura-Maru)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/26 "2012-04-25T00:09:01Z")
Those aren’t really antonyms, though. ‘Friend’ describes your relationship to the person, Fiend describes their nature. Fiends can have friends. They usually do. – Santa and Satan is an old chestnut. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/27 "2012-04-25T12:20:37Z")
In Spanish, **esposa** means wife, and **esposas** means handcuffs, but that would be more of a synonym. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/28 "2012-04-25T12:24:38Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > In Spanish, **esposa** means wife, and **esposas** means handcuffs, but that would be more of a synonym. A bit like groom and gloom? ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/29 "2012-04-25T13:42:33Z")
Fight and flight. I’m sure we can come up with a few others here and there… ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509/30 "2012-04-25T13:45:00Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > In Spanish, **esposa** means wife, and **esposas** means handcuffs, but that would be more of a synonym. Specially if the couple is into BDSM. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-notice-theres-one-letter-difference-betwen-a-friend-and-a-fiend/619509.md?page=1)