# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/41 "2011-01-10T17:52:58Z")
Opaque. I know better, but I still slip up and think it means cloudy/barely see-through. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/42 "2011-01-12T02:05:43Z")
Limpid I think of as meaning pearly or cloudy instead of clear. I think I have it mentally confused with turbid … which in turn I often (briefly) mix up with turgid. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/43 "2011-01-12T02:22:36Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Limpid I think of as meaning pearly or cloudy instead of clear. I think I have it mentally confused with turbid … which in turn I often (briefly) mix up with turgid. …and to complete the circle do you ever mix up turgid with limp? ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/44 "2011-01-12T02:25:28Z")
Left. And Right. Am I the only person out there that sometimes has to think about that? Is there a name for it? (I’m also not good at visualizing mechanical stuff…probably related. For example, I’ve had several people try to talk me through how to tie various knots…my mind just doesn’t work that way.) -D/a ---
**Author:** ![mike\_ahndembroak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mike\_ahndembroak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike_ahndembroak)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/45 "2011-01-12T04:05:26Z")
fiction, the first four letters are close to fact. when someone says fiction I always have to remind myself of science fiction and that science fiction is fake ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/46 "2011-01-12T04:13:15Z")
droll. It sounds like it should mean boring and serious. Like it’s a word that would be used by someone’s great aunt who never smiles. Like maybe games that aren’t fun are droll. It seems wrong to me that Santa Claus, of all people, should have a “droll little mouth”. Whenever I hear that, I picture Santa Claus with sort of a bored scowl. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/47 "2011-01-12T04:16:26Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > Left. And Right. Am I the only person out there that sometimes has to think about that? No, I have real issues with left and right, too. East and West are worse, because I can at least go ‘ok, which hand is…?’ for left and right. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/48 "2011-01-12T04:31:24Z")
Inflammable. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/49 "2011-01-12T13:14:26Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > No, I have real issues with left and right, too. East and West are worse, because I can at least go ‘ok, which hand is…?’ for left and right. Yay..I’m not alone. 🙂 I can do East and West…as long as it’s not while looking at a map. If it’s on paper, I have to go trough the mnemonic I learned as a kid.. “Never Eat Soggy Waffles”..to see which direction is which. I swear that North should be DOWN, not UP. I don’t know why. Mental note: start a thread about silly mnemonics. -D/a ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/50 "2011-01-12T22:26:46Z")
“He was sanguine about their chances of leaving alive.” No one in their right mind reads that sentence and thinks he was cheerfully optimistic. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721/51 "2011-01-13T00:39:38Z")
> [@Electric\_Warrior](#): > > Yes! Meanwhile puce should be the name of the color that we call chartreuse. I’m glad I’m not the only one who has to stop and think about those two colors. They just don’t sound how they look. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-what-a-word-means-yet-your-mind-leaps-to-its-opposite/566721.md?page=2)