"pale in comparison to" meaning reversal

[Herb Stahlke]

Ann,

I considered that possibility.  Here's the entire answer from Yahoo:

"The use of the phrase "PALES IN COMPARISON" is generally used in the
way similar words describe a person's complexion - PALE, PALLID, or
PALLOR. When a person is on the verge of collapsing into
unconsciousness after some terrible shock, blood drains from their
face which makes their face appear white. When we speak of something
that "PALES IN COMPARISON" to some other thing, we mean the difference
between the two things is so extreme to the point of making the lesser
thing faint from shock when exposed to the greater thing.

"However, to say that someone's love for another person pales in
comparison to the hate that someone also feels for the same person
seems kind of conflicted. It is common to describe people having a
"love-hate relationship", but if the love far outweighs the hate, I
might say that their love "conquers" the hate instead of saying it
"pales in comparison." When love conquers hate, the hate is vanquished
and disappears. When love pales in comparison to hate, the hate still
remains even if it is vastly overshadowed by the love."

The first paragraph is sufficiently imprecise as to which is the
lesser and which the greater that interpreted the second paragraph as
reversing the meaning.  The clause "but if the love far outweighs the
hate, I might say that their love "conquer" the hate instead of saying
it "pales in comparison" suggests exactly that reversal.

I did, however, check the first 100 googits for "pales in comparison"
and didn't find a single instance of the reversed meaning.  It's
possible that this was a slip both on the MSNBC interviewer's part and
on the Yahoo answerer's part.

Herb

On Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 11:44 AM, Ann Burlingham
<ann at burlinghambooks.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Ann Burlingham <ann at BURLINGHAMBOOKS.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "pale in comparison to" meaning reversal
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 10:52 AM, hfwstahlke <hfwstahlke at gmail.com> wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       hfwstahlke <hfwstahlke at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      "pale in comparison to" meaning reversal
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> I''m reposting this because Gmail says it was already posted but it
>> hasn't shown up.  Sorry if there is a double posting.
>>
>> An interviewer on "The Morning Meeting" just used "pale in comparison"
>> in a sense opposite to its usual meaning where the subject becomes
>> less significant than the object of the preposition.  Yahoo Anwers
>> apparently has the same usage as the interviewer:
>>
>> However, to say that someone's love for another person pales in
>> comparison to the hate that someone also feels for the same person
>> seems kind of conflicted. It is common to describe people having a
>> "love-hate relationship", but if the love far outweighs the hate, I
>> might say that their love "conquers" the hate instead of saying it
>> "pales in comparison." When love conquers hate, the hate is vanquished
>> and disappears. When love pales in comparison to hate, the hate still
>> remains even if it is vastly overshadowed by the love.
>
> I think the answerer understood the usage, but miswrote his answer,
> combining the two elements awkwardly.
>
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