8 ms·

Ah! Contronyms! Words that can mean a thing... and it's opposite (or nearly so). Dust, cleave, overlook... many others. One of those enjoyable corners of the

• jffry 5y ago
  Weird quirks of language (English and others) usually have interesting histories too.
• mijoharas 5y ago
  For anyone else that was confused, apparently there is an alternate usage of the word 'Cleave' that means 'to adhere' (rather than 'to cut' or 'to separate').[0] I hadn't heard of that one. [0] https://www.dailywritingtips.com/75-contronyms-words-with-contradictory-meanings/ https://www.dailywritingtips.com/75-contronyms-words-with-co... [1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cleave#:~:text=Definition%20of%20cleave,%2C%20rituals%2C%20and%20food.%20%E2%80%94 https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cleave#:~:text=De...
  • singingboyo 5y ago
    I almost feel like that specific usage should come with the 'archaic' tag, but it's reasonably common in slightly older novels, I think? Things like "He still cleaves to the imagined ideals of his forefathers". It definitely tends to be used in a more philosophical sense than the very physical "cleave a block of wood in two", though.
• navbaker 5y ago
  The Amelia Bedelia series of children's books get tons of mileage from these types of words.
• hunter2_ 5y ago
  "Biweekly" is a good one (half as often as weekly, but also twice as often as weekly).