Soluble Fish: Opposites? They ought to be!

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Opposites? They ought to be!

The English language can be rather odd, which I think is what makes it fun. For example, the following look like they ought to be antonyms, but they're actually synonyms:

ravel = unravel
flammable = inflammable: The source of "flammable" is well-documented. "Nonflammable" exists only because people started using "flammable."
press = depress: As in buttons or keys on a keyboard. Occasionally I get authors trying to sneak "depress" in when "press" will work just fine. Some people just can't stand one-syllable words.

Can you think of any more?

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