Can a word be its own opposite?

You know that a synonym = substitute and an antonym = opposite.

But did you know what a contranym is?

Can a word be its own opposite? Yes! They are called contranyms - words that are their own antonyms, depending on usage. Given below are a few examples.

* Dust. Can mean 'to add fine particles' or 'to remove fine particles'.

* Left.  Can mean both 'remaining' and 'departed'.

* Off. Can mean both 'activated' and 'deactivated'.

           Eg. "Set off" -  activated

                  "Switch off"  -  deactivated.

* Oversight. Means both 'watchful care' and 'an inadvertent error'.

* Screen. Can mean both 'to show' and 'to hide'.

* Sanction. Can mean both 'a penalty for disobeying a law' and 'official permission or approval for an action.

Amazing English!

     *       *       *

28 Jul 2021.

New Zealand. First to start transmission of electricity, wirelessly! Amazing!

This, if it happens, will have huge changes......in every field including world 

economics/politics.....

      *       *       *

Dissension and listening to contrarian views are at the core of good decision making not only in the military but in politics and corporates also. When authorities muffle the voice of dissent, disastrous decisions gets taken.

There is a real life story about Kemmons Wilson, founder of Holiday Inn, who owed the largest hotel chain in the world. Many of the members on his board of directors were miffed by the constant criticism of two directors about every proposal and project.

They collectively requested the founder to remove these two from the board.

Mr Wilson's answer was, "Those two are the most valuable members of my board. I know that, if I address the concerns raised by them, my ventures will succeed".

       *        *        *

A tidbit about the javelin.

The world record for javelin throw is a massive 104.8 m held by Uwe Hohn. He threw that distance in the mid-1980s. In fact, he is the only man to have ever thrown the javelin over 100 m. Hohn is, incidentally, now Neeraj's coach.

Hohn's record is now called the 'eternal record' because it will never be broken. When the athletes started throwing further and further, there were two problems :-

(a) Many of the grounds were not big enough and it started getting dangerous for spectators in an average-sized stadia and for passers-by near practice grounds.

(b) The javelin used those days did not dip enough on the downward curve and often fell flat making it difficult to measure the throws properly.

As a consequence, immediately after Hohn's phenomenal throw, a change was made in the design of the javelin. The centre of gravity was moved up by a few inches so that it would fall faster and at a sharper angle.

We will, therefore, almost certainly never see 100 m throws ever again in the javelin event and Hohn's record will survive forever.

Tailpiece.

Got up half an hour later than usual being a Sunday. The chores and was ready by 10. Today, happens to be the 'Karkkidam new moon'. Bali tharpanam is offered to all the relatives of the family who have passed into the mist of time. A part of the PN Panicker-Chempakakutty Amma family, under Maman's leadership, placed the offerings at the courtyard of the PN Panicker Foundation in Thiruvananthapuram this morning.

A quiet evening.