mmt (01/06/83)
So far, through the net or through friends, I have come up with four words, which include five polar pairs of meanings: cleave -- to or apart fast -- stuck fast or run fast topped -- a building that is topped has a top put on, but a tree or a person that is topped has the top (head) taken off overlook -- (1) look beyond, not see or notice or survey from above, examine. (2) supervise workers or cast the evil eye, bewitch The second pair of meanings for overlook might be considered dubious, because it is not always clear that the supervisor of workers is trying to get them performing well, whereas the bewitcher is trying to get them to perform badly; however, the OED says that "overlook" is the most commonly used word for casting the evil eye, so I think we should count it, if only because of the rarity of having two completely different polar opposit meanings from one word. Martin Taylor
ark (01/07/83)
This isn't quite in this category, but what about bimonthly which means either every other month or twice a month, depending.
as (01/07/83)
Bimonthly definitely isn't in the category of words that have two opposite meanings. It always means once every two months; only semimonthly means twice a month. The following usage note is quoted from the American Heritage Dictionary: "Bimonthly, in careful usage, means 'once in two months;' biweekly, 'once in two weeks;' and biyearly, 'once in two years.' They are not interchangeable with semimonthly, semiweekly, and semiyearly, which refer to occurrence twice a month, week, and year, respectively. A similar distinction exists between biennial (once in two years, lasting two years) and biannual (twice a year)." Abe Shliferstein, Bell Labs, Holmdel.
wsp (01/08/83)
I'd love to flame on this one with all due righteousness but then again... semi-monthly means every half-month or two weeks bimonthly means only every two months But then errors made often enough become the standard. Peter Benson
ark (01/08/83)
>From Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary:
bimonthly (adj) 1: occuring every two months
2: occuring twice a month: semimonthly
When I worked at Columbia University, people on the bimonthly payroll
were paid twice a month. There was no semimonthly payroll.
gh (01/09/83)
Abe Shliferstein's comment, that "bimonthly" is not interchangeable with "semimonthly", is a nice theory, but, alas, not in keeping with modern usage. My Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (one of those nasty ones that that just records usage, no matter how bad, without comment), lists both meanings for the word. Even the usage note Abe quotes from the American Heritage Dictionary contains the hedge "in careful usage", unusual for the AHD's notes. The sad fact is that to the confusion of all, 99% of usage is not "careful", and the other 1% is not flagged as careful and so is still ambiguous.