# Words that sound like very different things **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 4, 2014, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338 "2014-04-04T13:59:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/1 "2014-04-04T13:59:20Z")
Superintendent. A school district supervisor, but to me it sounds like someone with extra amazing powers or resolve of intention. What are yours? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/2 "2014-04-04T14:03:11Z")
Not exactly what you’re talking about: > [@Ralph](#): > > Hi Super Nintendo Chalmers! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/3 "2014-04-04T15:10:50Z")
I know what penultimate means, but it seems like a lot of word for the purpose of it. It seems like it should mean something pretty remarkable. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/4 "2014-04-04T15:16:07Z")
I have similar feelings about the word _supervision_. One I come up against almost every day at the office is _resent_. I often have people telling me that they “resent the data” or “resent the e-mail,” and I’m not sure which way to take it. The meaning is clearer if they use a hyphen, but _re-sent_ just doesn’t look right. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/5 "2014-04-04T15:22:35Z")
> [@](#): > > I often have people telling me that they “resent the data” or “resent the e-mail,” and I’m not sure which way to take it. The meaning is clearer if they use a hyphen It’s a shame that folks are so niggardly with hyphens. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/6 "2014-04-04T15:39:58Z")
I remember a geography teacher banging a rock down on another student’s desk and announcing to her “Amy, this is a piece a schist.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/7 "2014-04-04T16:10:06Z")
I knew a guy who thought recant meant the same as repeat. Which made it confusing when he’d say something like “Yeah, I went back to the guy and questioned him again and he recanted what he said the first time.” But I can see his point. Words like recant, revoke, and renounce should be saying something again rather than taking back something that was already said. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/8 "2014-04-04T16:43:16Z")
“Condone” should mean “condemn.” ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/9 "2014-04-04T17:13:37Z")
“Bemuse” sounds like it should mean something that is amusing,and it does - sort of. But it also means “to puzzle or confuse”, which is pretty puzzling and confusing! In the appraisal world, the standard disclaimers say “disinterested” which seems like it should be similar to “uninterested”. Instead it means “neutral”. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/10 "2014-04-04T18:02:46Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > “Bemuse” sounds like it should mean something that is amusing,and it does - sort of. But it also means “to puzzle or confuse”, which is pretty puzzling and confusing! Nonplussed should mean you’re not something, but instead it means you are confused. ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/11 "2014-04-04T18:27:19Z")
Excuse me while I masticate… on this thread for a while. Back in 10 minutes! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/12 "2014-04-04T18:34:52Z")
_Ignorance_ sounds as if it should be the case where someone willfully disregards information, but it really means thyat one is unaware of it, not necessarily through one’s own fault. To say someone is “ignorant” always seems to me as if it’s being too harsh on that person. Of course, the winner is \*_Inflammable_, which sounds as if it should mean that something will _not_ catch fire, because of that prefixed “In-”. This tends to draw the comment that “Many people don’t realize that the prefix can be used as an intensifier”, which makes me want to write that “Most Word Mavens don’t seem to realize that in 90% of cases, popular supposition is correct, and “In-” suggests that the item is the opposite of what follows.” Language, despite what is often said, doers have a logic to it (although littered with exceptions), and we rely on these rules of logic to say and to interpret things we haven’t said before. Otherwise language would just be a collection of rote phrases. I’m fully in support of the use of “Flammable” in labeling, to remove all ambiguity and chance of misunderstanding. ’ ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/13 "2014-04-04T18:35:49Z")
Enervated sounds as if it is an energetic word. “I feel incredibly enervated after a cup of coffee.” Actually enervated means tired, debilitated, etc. Restive seems as is it means calm and relaxed when actually it means restless. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/14 "2014-04-04T18:50:41Z")
I came to this thread for “enervated” but I was too late. So I nominate two words, “benign” and “malignant.” In some situations these are opposites. But it looks to me like the opposites pairing should be “benign/malign” or else “benignant/malignant.” Instead “malign” means something entirely different. So I guess that meaning was taken so an ending was added? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/15 "2014-04-04T19:25:24Z")
“Sanction” – how many other words have two pretty much opposite meanings? ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/16 "2014-04-04T19:44:40Z")
“Subduction” sounds like it should end in sexy fun times, but instead tends to end in earthquakes and tsunamis. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/17 "2014-04-04T19:47:40Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > It’s a shame that folks are so niggardly with hyphens. Indeed, especially as they have pulchritude, and yet are accessible to the hoi polloi. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/18 "2014-04-04T21:48:10Z")
I don’t know what _hirsute_ should mean, but it does not sound like an overly hairy person ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/19 "2014-04-04T22:15:11Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > I remember a geography teacher banging a rock down on another student’s desk and announcing to her “Amy, this is a piece a schist.” That wasn’t gneiss. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338/20 "2014-04-04T22:17:50Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > “Sanction” – how many other words have two pretty much opposite meanings? English has a surprising number of them. They’re called [auto-antonyms](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-antonym) or contronyms. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-sound-like-very-different-things/685338.md?page=2)