10 ms·
That reminds me of my favorite auto-antonym - a word where the noun and verb forms have completely opposite meanings. The lawmaker sanctioned(v) the sanction(n
by Karunamon 5y ago
That reminds me of my favorite auto-antonym - a word where the noun and verb forms have completely opposite meanings.
The lawmaker sanctioned(v) the sanction(n)
Where the verb form is to permit, and the noun form is to restrict!
English is weird.
- dhosek 5y agoIt's very common for writers, especially journalists, to use to sanction to mean to impose sanctions. I've given up on correcting them and in their defense, the OED has the verb to sanction meaning to impose punishment dating back to the early 19th century in legal contexts.
- rexreed 5y agoHere's another one that uses the same word in opposing contexts: After he left out the left door, there was no one left.