# You know what a word means, yet your mind leaps to its opposite. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 7, 2011, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721 "2011-01-07T06:19:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [January 7, 2011, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/1 "2011-01-07T06:19:05Z")
For me, this happens with the word “levity.” I totally understand what the word means, yet every time I hear it, I think of something heavy and ponderous and serious . . . exactly the opposite of its actual meaning. It takes me a few seconds to remind myself of the word’s actual meaning. Does this happen to you? ---
**Author:** ![Elysian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Elysian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysian)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/2 "2011-01-07T08:10:11Z")
“Chartreuse”. It’s supposed to mean a deep blushing red, damnit. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/3 "2011-01-07T14:53:03Z")
Enervate. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/4 "2011-01-07T15:02:16Z")
Condone. It sounds so close to condemn that my mind immediately subs it in place. ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/5 "2011-01-07T15:02:30Z")
Yeah, “peruse.” I always immediately think “skim,” though it actually means to examine very carefully. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/6 "2011-01-07T15:03:46Z")
> [@Elysian](#): > > “Chartreuse”. It’s supposed to mean a deep blushing red, damnit. Yes! Meanwhile puce should be the name of the color that we call chartreuse. ---
**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:** [January 7, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/7 "2011-01-07T15:08:54Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Condone. It sounds so close to condemn that my mind immediately subs it in place. I think part of that is that you almost always here it in the context of telling someone not to do something… “I don’t condone this”. > [@ReticulatingSplines](#): > > Yeah, “peruse.” I always immediately think “skim,” though it actually means to examine very carefully. I always thought that _was_ what it meant. Looking it up, I see it has two definitions. 1. to read or examine with care; study 2. to browse or read through in a leisurely way I could see #2 to mean skimming. ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/8 "2011-01-07T15:27:11Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I always thought that _was_ what it meant. Looking it up, I see it has two definitions. > > 1. to read or examine with care; study > 2. to browse or read through in a leisurely way > > I could see #2 to mean skimming. Interesting…I could have sworn that that usage was proscribed by the OED or somesuch, but now I feel less bad about all the times I used it to mean “skim.” ---
**Author:** ![Spectralist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Spectralist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectralist)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/9 "2011-01-07T17:37:35Z")
Thrive. Since I learnt the word from various nature documentaries that invariably used it in the sentence: Despite [various difficulties and predators] the [species] manages to thrive. I interpreted it as meaning manages to survive but only barely. ---
**Author:** ![panman\_1960](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/919ad9/32.png) [@panman\_1960](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panman_1960)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/10 "2011-01-07T17:52:22Z")
chagrin… Just seemed it should be amusement… later, Tom. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/11 "2011-01-07T18:02:39Z")
“Mirth” is not a happy word, even though I try to convince myself otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/12 "2011-01-07T18:37:24Z")
> [@ReticulatingSplines](#): > > Interesting…I could have sworn that that usage was proscribed by the OED or somesuch, but now I feel less bad about all the times I used it to mean “skim.” The OED exists only to _describe_ language as it is used, not to comment on ‘correct’ or ‘wrong’ usages, and in fact has a little bit of information about this. Mods, I apologize if this quote is outside of the bounds of fair use. > [@Oxford English Dictionary](#): > > c. To read through or over; (generally) to read. In later use also: to browse, skim. Also occas. intr. > Modern dictionaries and usage guides, perh. influenced by the word’s earlier history in English, have sometimes claimed that the only ‘correct’ usage is in reference to reading closely or thoroughly (cf. senses 4a, 4b). However, peruse has been a broad synonym for read since the 16th cent., encompassing both careful and cursory reading; Johnson defined and used it as such. In any case I’ve now found another one of my own. I could have sworn ‘proscribe’ meant to _establish_ the use of something; of course I was confusing it with ‘prescribe’. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/13 "2011-01-07T18:49:36Z")
Whenever someone says the word “cleave” I immediately think of its opposite. ---
**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:** [January 7, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/14 "2011-01-07T18:54:44Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > “Mirth” is not a happy word, even though I try to convince myself otherwise. How do you define it? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/15 "2011-01-07T18:58:58Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Whenever someone says the word “cleave” I immediately think of its opposite. Cleave is what is sometimes called a contranym because it is its own antonym like with, sanction, clip, moot, oversight, dust and a number of other words. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/16 "2011-01-07T19:01:39Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Cleave is what is sometimes called a contranym because it is its own antonym like with, sanction, clip, moot, oversight, dust and a number of other words. These are the jokes. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/17 "2011-01-07T19:05:23Z")
I always confuse sleet and hail, because sleet sounds like an icy sort of word and hail sounds like a slushy sort of word. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/18 "2011-01-07T19:56:11Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > How do you define it? It’s supposed to mean “joyful” but “mirth” is just not a joyful sounding word. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/19 "2011-01-07T20:03:48Z")
Auspicious to me sounds too much like ominous. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/20 "2011-01-07T20:24:26Z")
> [@Elysian](#): > > “Chartreuse”. It’s supposed to mean a deep blushing red, damnit. It does. Wait, I will look it up for a cite. …Well you learn something new every day. Yellow/Green Huh? That the dumbest thing I have heard today. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721.md?page=2)