# Words You Think Mean the Opposite **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 15, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725 "2011-03-15T01:17:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/81 "2011-03-16T16:41:07Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > \*\*Credit \*\*and \*\*debit \*\*mean the opposite of what I thought. Only from an accounting perspective. From a consumer perspective (i.e. yours) they mean what you’d expect. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/82 "2011-03-16T17:41:25Z")
Didn’t I start a thread like this, not too long ago? Anyway, my word is “levity.” I always think it means heavy and serious. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/83 "2011-03-16T20:19:32Z")
A thought about dearth. Maybe some people are thinking of the word plethora. They’re somewhat similar in the way they sound and have opposite meanings. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/84 "2011-03-16T20:36:26Z")
Pulchritude. Really doesn’t sound like it means beauty. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/85 "2011-03-16T21:16:00Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > “Droll” has suffered the same fate as “Nimrod”–it’s used sarcastically more than it’s used sincerely–often as a response to sarcastic humor “Oh, _verry_ droll!” (Spoken in a Fred Flintstone voice.) Yeah, ISTR that the sarcastic usage confused me as child. Droll, I thought, must simply mean that it fails to be funny at all. Of course, Barney’s remarks were usually funny enough to get laughs (at least from the laugh machine ;)). But since they were usually at Fred’s expense, he dismissed them, just as if he had said: _**FUHHH neeee!**_ ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/86 "2011-03-17T00:15:56Z")
Coin. Common usage is “to originate,” but to my mind it should mean “to make yet another copy.” ---
**Author:** ![Junkman209](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/junkman209/32/5522_2.png) [@Junkman209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junkman209)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/87 "2011-03-17T01:40:07Z")
When I hear the months September, October, November, and December, I think of the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th months, respectively. I wish I hadn’t tried to teach myself Latin in Elementary School. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/88 "2011-03-17T01:51:53Z")
Could be conflating sanguine with sangfroid. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/90 "2011-03-17T08:50:59Z")
> [@brainstall](#): > > Pulchritude. Really doesn’t sound like it means beauty. Indeed. It sounds like something vile, foul and probably putrid. Well, to me it does. ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/91 "2011-03-17T09:13:58Z")
Sanction and Sanguine. I consider myself quite adept with the English language yet these two words always cause a secret unease. Great thread. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/92 "2011-03-17T15:43:51Z")
> [@Ken001](#): > > Sanction and Sanguine. > > I consider myself quite adept with the English language yet these two words always cause a secret unease. > > Great thread. _ **Great?** _ What did you mean by that?! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/93 "2011-03-17T17:45:16Z")
> [@Ken001](#): > > Sanction and Sanguine. > > I consider myself quite adept with the English language yet these two words always cause a secret unease. > > Great thread. Sanction has two almost opposite meanings, though - if you sanction something, you allow it, but if you impose sanctions on it, you restrict it. It’s like “dusting” - dusting a cake with sugar means the exact opposite of dusting a table with a cloth. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/94 "2011-03-18T08:13:15Z")
Prologue. I always think it should be “prelogue” since it comes before the work. Thus I get it mixed up with an epilogue. I’ve also been known to get homely and comely mixed up. In fact, I just had to look it up to be sure. Why can’t homely mean someone I would like to take home? ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/95 "2011-03-18T09:03:40Z")
> [@Trans Fat Og](#): > > _ **Great?** _ > > What did you mean by that?! 😉 LOL got me. 😃 But you must admit, its a wonderful topic for discussion and I find it heartening to see other people have similar thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Unexpected\_Okapi\_Debacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_unexpected_okapi_debacle/32/7702_2.png) [@The\_Unexpected\_Okapi\_Debacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Unexpected_Okapi_Debacle)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/96 "2011-03-18T13:22:37Z")
Maudlin is mine. I always read it and immediately think “gloomy” or “creepy”. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/97 "2011-03-18T17:19:22Z")
> [@Ken001](#): > > LOL got me. 😃 > > But you must admit, its a wonderful topic for discussion and I find it heartening to see other people have similar thoughts. Yeah, it’s my favorite thread currently. Seriously. [del]ETA: By “thread” I mean a series of posts in an online discussion, and not a line of fabr[/del] _ **OH, enough already, me!!!** _ ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/98 "2011-03-18T21:26:08Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > INflamable means FLAMABLE!!?! Drives me batty. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/99 "2011-03-18T22:01:30Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Drives me batty. But does it inflame you? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/100 "2011-03-18T22:04:10Z")
Commence/Commencement clearly means the end of something, right? Why else would you have a Commencement Ceremony and the end of high school/college? ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725/101 "2011-03-18T22:34:58Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Prologue. I always think it should be “prelogue” since it comes before the work. Thus I get it mixed up with an epilogue. > > I’ve also been known to get homely and comely mixed up. In fact, I just had to look it up to be sure. Why can’t homely mean someone I would like to take home? Just think of comely as someone you want to make come. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-think-mean-the-opposite/574725.md?page=6)