6.139 Words that are their own opposites

[The Linguist List]

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-6-139. Thu 02 Feb 1995. ISSN: 1068-4875. Lines: 40
 
Subject: 6.139 Words that are their own opposites
 
Moderators: Anthony Rodrigues Aristar: Texas A&M U. <aristar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
            Helen Dry: Eastern Michigan U. <hdry at emunix.emich.edu>
 
Asst. Editors: Ron Reck <rreck at emunix.emich.edu>
               Ann Dizdar <dizdar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
               Ljuba Veselinova <lveselin at emunix.emich.edu>
 
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1)
Date:    Mon, 30 Jan 95 20:27 PST
From: benji wald                           (IBENAWJ at MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU)
Subject: Re: 6.108 Sum: Words that are their own opposites (part 2)
 
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1)
Date:    Mon, 30 Jan 95 20:27 PST
From: benji wald                           (IBENAWJ at MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU)
Subject: Re: 6.108 Sum: Words that are their own opposites (part 2)
 
I've been enjoying the discussion of words that are their own antonyms.
At first I thought the classic example of Latin  altus "high" or "deep"
might fit in, but as I thought about it I figured it was just unmarked
for point of view (say when cleaning out an empty swimming pool then
"deep" becomes "high") so I just looked to see if it was on the list and
 got a comment.  No.  Good.  But one that I have long wondered about is
"risk" as in "he risked winning the game".  I was shocked (as a teenager)
 the first time I saw "he risked losing the game" (or something like that)
 in print, because I previously thought (and am still inclined toward)
 the complement of risk being the desirable result, not the undesirable
 one.  Whether or not this fits into this discussion, I wonder if anyone
 else has had a similar (or opposite) reaction or any thoughts
about what's going on in the case of "risk".  Benji
 
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