Up and down
“Are you up for that?” “Yeah, I’m down”
Up and down
“Are you up for that?” “Yeah, I’m down”
"Are you down for that?" "Yeah, I'm up"
Dust. Dust the shelf, dust the loaf with flour.
Well, this is the opposite thing (same word meaning opposite) but if you ask me it's the same.
EDIT: For some that fit better:
I think valuable / invaluable actually have different meanings. Something which is invaluable, is so important a value should not be assigned.
Caregiver/caretaker is a fun one I had never considered.
Two examples where erroneous usage has resulted in this paradox:
Regardless and irregardless
"I couldn't care less" and "I could care less"
I don't think either were ever said by competently literate people (wtf is "irregardless"? And do they mean they could "care less" about a subject or do they mean the opposite but don't understand negation?) so idk if this fits what OP was saying entirely. They're just obvious mistakes that have been normalized as people got dumber, right?
Irregardless means “without a lack of regard”. Ergo vis-à-vis if you say irregardless you are actually fully regarded
I didn't realize it until you mentioned it, but while I remember hearing "I could care less" a lot in previous years, I haven't heard anyone use it incorrectly like þat recently. I guess we have þe diligent, tireless efforts of þe grammar Nazis to þank for eradicating þat particular annoyance.
I þink i've seen your comments around a few times and it always seems like haters are downvoting just for þe use of "þ." Most unwarranted, if so!
I agree! I do appreciate the apparently zero fucks that this person gives about the downvotes, though. :D
I find intensifying to be more natural than negating for things like “I couldn’t care less,” or “irregardless,” or “misunderestimate” to a certain extent — if something is “worthwhile regardless,” I don’t have to regard that, but if it is “worthwhile irregardless,” I really don’t have to think about it at all. It just seems right that if I put a bunch of negative words in one sentence, it should be really, really negative, instead of it being negative if I used an odd number and positive if I used an even number; same with prefixes and suffixes. I think it’s probably too much to try to reform English to work as such, but if I were building a conlang it’s what I would do.
"flammable" and "inflammable" both describe an object that can easily catch on fire.
Hi Dr.Nick!
Literally means either literally or figuratively, and context doesn't really help.
Literally literally means figuratively, or literally, however figuratively literally only means figuratively.
To bone and to debone both mean to remove bones from something, typically food.
This is kinda the opposite to what you are asking: awesome and awful used to mean the same thing IIRC, both being something filling you with awe. Later the meanings split between positive and negative.
Same with terrible and terrific.
I often thought awful was an odd word. Surely awful = full of awe, but it is frequently used to describe things that have little to no awe.
Also I have now said the word awe too much and it looks strange.
As a non-native English speaker, I always have to think a second extra about "terrific", about it being negative or positive. Probably because it sound similar to "terrible".
Or as an analog: horror - terror, horrific - terrific.
One that sorta works:
it's all uphill / downhill from here -> it's only going to get worse
Sanction can mean a punishment or an authorization.
Came up in a DND game where a devil's contract said the players crossing the region would be sanctioned, or something like that. Players thought it meant they had permission, fine print said they would be punished.
It means authorized decision. The decision can be a punishment.
One way mirror and two way mirror
Is a two-way mirror a window? Or just a mirror? I don't believe I've ever heard þe term.
inflammable and flammable
What a country!
Garnish can either be an enhancing addition such as in a dish, or to take something away such as garnishing wages.
You can lease/rent something to a tenant... Or you can lease/rent something from someone.
The informal definition of "literally" is an exaggeration of something that is not literally true. Inn other words, figuratively.
The undead are dead.
Slightly different, but single words meaning multiple conflicting things seem to come to mind more readily:
I literally can't believe this thread.
They're called "contranyms". Easy to find examples once you know that
For Australians, yeah, yeah nah, yeah yeah nah, nah, nah yeah nah, nah nah yeah, all have subtly different positive and/or negative meanings, often dependent on the situation.
Cleave
Restless and Restful.
mark and demarcate. I love this one.
also, limit and delimit
a bit of a stretch but i can imagine someone saying "You're a natural" and "you're a freak" to express someone being abnormally talented at something on their first try.
"You're a natural at rock climbing. You're a rock climbing freak. A freak at rock climbing."
Yeah, right.
Not the original question you asked, but fits in with your edit:
Priceless and worthless are opposites
1) Be nice and; have fun
Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them
2) All posts must end with a '?'
This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?
3) No spam
Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.
4) NSFW is okay, within reason
Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com.
NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].
5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions.
If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.
6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online
Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.
Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu