Afarin Rava: Contronyms

Saturday, April 29, 2023

Contronyms

Many words sound similar in French and English but have very different meanings. I've mentioned this in my books — in Languages & Life Lessons and in Indiana Joes. One such word that confused me was the adjective terrific. I noticed that people in the United States used the word as another way to say great or tremendous, whereas a similar word in French, the verb terrifier, meant to terrify or cause terror. It took me a while to get used to what it meant in the US. I looked up the English word to make sure I understood it correctly and found it had an archaic definition: causing terror.

The meanings of the word terrific — great and causing terror — are not opposites, but the English language does have words with two opposing meanings. These words are called contronyms. A contronym is a word with two opposite meanings. The English language has about seventy-five contronyms.

This site offers a list of contronyms:
https://ielts.com.au/australia/prepare/article-grammar-101-what-is-a-contronym#full-list-of-contronyms-in-english

Dearest Devised Darling

Dearest Devised Darling: Anthology is a dedication to the brave heroes and enchanting heroines who have touched our hearts and taught us valuable lessons through their struggles and adventures — and to the authors who created these cherished characters. The contributors to this anthology, who wrote letters to their favorite fictional figures, are — in alphabetical order : Jay Armstrong, Wendy Bayne, S. S. Bazinet, Gail Boenning, Jane Cornwell, Holly Dobbie, Humzah Farrukh, Umiemah Farrukh, Marni Graff, H. C. Helfand, Ewan Lawrie, Trish MacEnulty, J. G. MacLeod, Sallie Moffitt, Natasha Morningstarr, Chris Palmore, Afarin Rava, Diane Riley, Nina Romano, Carolyn Ruffles, Edward Selender, Denis Shaughnessy, Wendy E. Slater, Paul Spalding-Mulcock, Diana Stevan, Vicky Whedbee, Gerry Wilson, Wanda L. Worley, and George Yuhasz.

Dear Twelve-Year-Old Me

Over thirty writers hoping to make a positive change in the world have contributed their valuable life experiences and advice to children and adolescents. This book is a collection of priceless life lessons shared by random people, each of whom wished they could reach out to their twelve-year-old self and whisper their precious lessons in a way that their younger self would hear, believe, and learn. Many thanks to B.H. Arias, P.D. Austin, Jerome Berglund, Mike Bowerbank, Rocío del Mar, Holly Dobbie, Hannah Downey, Glenna Gill, Ilya Gutlin, Claude Inkwell, Althea Hogsett, Karen Hoffman, Margaret Lindsay Holton, Roberta Beach Jacobson, Heather Lynn, IA McCleery, Kelly Miller, Sallie Moffitt, Danielle Moody, Natasha Morningstarr, Chris Palmore, Diane Riley, Nina Romano, Gloria Worley Ruberry, Edward Selender, Claire Sheehy, Leif E. Slusher, Paul Spalding-Mulcock, Vicky Whedbee, Peter B. Williams, Charles Dan Worley, and Wanda L. Worley, whose contributions brought this book to life.