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I was reading on another board about words that can mean the opposite of what is implied.
"Seed" is an example of a contranym (or contronym), since it indicates opposite actions; i.e., you can seed clouds and seed tomatoes.
Think about that when you're pondering collective nouns.
<font color="#FFFFAA" size="1">[ September 18, 2005 07:01 AM: Message edited by: gae ]</font>
Huh? Maybe it's late, and it's over my head, but I don't get it....how do you "seed" a tomato? And "seeding" the clouds is more a figure of speech....right? Or am I missing something here?
Taking something out, putting something in, same word to mean both.
Contranyms. I like it.
Well you can seed your garden while being a bad seed yourself.
Kinda like Grease.
You can use grease to grease a wheel.
The same word used as a verb and a noun.
[img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img]
More like "dust"
can mean to remove fine particles from: "dust the table"
can mean to add fine particles to: "dust powdered sugar onto the cake"
Or Butt!
You can have a really nice butt or, you can butt into someone's conversation [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/angel.gif[/img] LOL!
Or stand
You can stand on your own two feet, or you can put someone on the stand to testify.
[img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img]
self-contained opposites; a delightful tension therein
And something else for Dulc: remember last Thursday, Gae, I told you of the unexpected hug I got and what I was going to do the next Monday night? Did it, got ANOTHER hug and a conversation. Within 10 minutes he was telling me that he made "good money" with "a secure job". Hmmmm, I think this may be a wholly manipulable situation. It will be good practice.
I still think you people are taking metaphors, similies, and plan ol' figures of speech, and turning them into some etymological discertation.
That's wonderful news, Dulc. [img]smile.gif[/img] I want more details!
And Lew, see... your posts are one of the reasons why you don't get to hang out in biker bars with me and Dulc. You're limiting yourself.
Oh man, talk about a buzzkill. I have just been told by a coworker that it is bad karma to toy with someone for my own amusement. Well, I guess I have to scrap THAT set of plans.
Maybe if I toy with someone for you-all's amusement it would be okay? [img]wink.gif[/img]
Is your coworker the Dali Lama? If not, ignore him/her.
Toy with the man for MY amusement, OK?
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Don?t listen to that co-worker the Karma Sutra says that it's ok to toy with someone else for our own amusement. By the way, if you killed the buzz in the toy, put in a new battery.Quote:
Originally posted by Dulcinea:
Oh man, talk about a buzzkill. I have just been told by a coworker that it is bad karma to toy with someone for my own amusement. Well, I guess I have to scrap THAT set of plans.
Maybe if I toy with someone for you-all's amusement it would be okay? [img]wink.gif[/img]
And perhaps something else for Dulc:
Last week, I was headed out for lunch, a co-worker sees me headed out the door with my purse, and says, "Going out?" I say yes, our A&R committee is having a celebratory lunch at Dewey's Pizza, and co-worker says, "Oh, try their barbecue chicken pizza, and the Goat cheese pizza, I had those and they are great!" I say that I think the food was already pre-ordered, but maybe those will be on the menu.
Monday, same co-worker says, "Did you get to try those?" and I say that those were not among the pizzas that we had available to us, and they say, "we should go there sometime" and I say, "sure, and let's take George, I know he is a friend of yours", and they look a little sad and say, okay.
Today:
co-worker: Say, are you doing anything tomorrow night? Maybe we could go out and do something.
me: (thinks: Am I being asked out on a DATE? and feeling decidedly squeamish) Uh, I think I have plans for tomorrow night.
co-worker: I am sorry to hear that.
Why was I feeling squeamish?
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This conversation took place in the ladies' room.
Later on I am ashamed, and I think, she knows that I don't have the kids tomorrow night (reason she knows later). I figure she is just trying to be friendly and keep me from being lonely on a Friday night, and it certainly was not being asked on a date.
I head over to her cube, and say, I checked my calendar, and I had the wrong week, I am not doing anything tomorrow night and we can go and do something together. Then SHE says, "Just you and me? No one else?" Hmmmm. I say, "sure, just the two of us." She says, "I am SO EXCITED. I have been wanting to do this for a long time. I am really looking forward to it."
Later, passing by her cube with an armful of pipet tips and 96 well plates headed to an instrument in another lab, she looks at me and says, "I am SO EXCITED about tomorrow night!!" She says this about three times, and the guy in the cube next to her looks at us speculatively.
Then I realize, when she asked me the first time, I was in the ladies' room brushing my teeth. She sits where she would have seen me heading there with my toothbrush in hand. I think she came in there specifically to ask me. And the reason she knows I don't have the kids is that she is in a 4 cube group with KP, he is kitty corner to her cube and she may have heard him talking about plans for the weekend.
I am currently believing that she just wants to hear my perspective on the situation with KP. Yeah, that's it.
Just talk up reason, and you'll be fine.