AUTOANTONYMS

An autoantonym is a word or phrase which "contradicts itself"; that is, has two distinct meanings, which are opposite. Such words are sometimes called "Janus words", after the two-headed Roman god. Some examples include:

• ALL OVER: Available everywhere / available no longer.
  "Christmas is all over."
• ARGUE: Assert / deny.
  "Few would argue that children are the chief beneficiaries." (NYT: 28 May 1999). It is impossible to determine what is meant from the sentence in isolation. It is only from context that it becomes clear that in this case, the sense of "deny" is meant.
• BUCKLE: To pull together / to fall apart.
• CARRY ON: To behave normally / to behave abnormally.
  When the cat got loose, the teacher carried on.
  When the cat got loose, the children carried on.
• CLEAVE: To cut apart / to cling together.
• CONTINUE: To proceed / to interrupt.
  "I wish to continue this argument" means I want the argument to proceed without interruption, unless I am talking to a judge, in which case, I am asking that the argument be halted, to be continued (perhaps!) later.
• DOWNHILL: a better direction / a worse direction.
  I'm afraid it's all downhill from here.
  Luckily, it's all downhill from here.
• DRESS: to add a covering / to remove a covering.
  I dressed the chicken...by removing its feathers.
  I dressed the chicken...by putting a little jacket on it.
• DUST: To remove dust / to deposit dust.
  His mother dusted the furniture.
  His mother's ashes dusted the furniture.
• ENJOIN: To forbid / to require.
• EXCEPTIONAL: outstanding / objectionable;
  His moral character is exceptional....he is a saint.
  His moral character is exceptional....he is a notorious sinner.
• FAST: moving quickly / constrained from moving.
  The boat was made fast...by adding a new engine.
  The boat was made fast...by tieing it to the pier.
• FIGHT WITH: fight against / fight alongside of.
  The Afghans fought with the Russians...and stopped them!
  The Afghans fought with the Russians...and helped them take Kabul!
• FIX: a predicament / a solution.
  The boat was sinking fast...this was a real fix!
  He plugged the hole with chewing gum...this was a real fix!
• FORMAL: merely the outer form / meticulously complete.
  The company didn't mean it; it was only a formal offer.
  If the company really wanted him, they would make a formal offer.
• GIVE OUT: to produce / to fail.
  The ice maker gave out.
  The ice maker gave out...ice.
• GO OFF: Cease operation / begin operation
  "When did the alarm go off?"
  (When did the alarm bell begin to ring?)
  (When did the alarm system fail because the battery ran out?)
• HANDICAP: a disadvantage / an advantange.
  He usually lost at golf because of his handicap.
  He usually won at golf because of his handicap.
• HOLD: to carry out / to delay.
  The meeting was held for an hour, then everyone left.
  The meeting was held for an hour, til everyone arrived.
• LEFT: Here / not here.
  "The cheese's left." (The cheese has departed or the cheese has remained.)
• LEGENDARY: Famously true / Famously imaginary.
  "Your efficiency is legendary."
• OBLIGE: To require another to do a favor / To do a favor for another. "Why was he at the party so long?" "I obliged him." (I required him to stay, as a favor to me, or I let him stay, as a favor to him.)
• OVERSIGHT: watching out for errors / failing to see an error.
  It was his oversight that caught the mistake.
  It was his oversight that caused the mistake.
• PARALLEL: separated / related.
  The two schools had everything in common, like parallel worlds.
  The two schools had nothing in common, like parallel worlds.
• PERUSE: To read slowly and carefully / to read quickly.
• PIT: A solid core / a hole.
• RAVEL: To tangle / to untwist.
• RESIGN: To quit a job / to renew a job contract (re-sign).
  The coach resigned, so we needed to replace him.
  The coach resigned, so we stopped looking for a replacement.
• SANCTION: To bless / to ban.
• SCAN: To read slowly and carefully / to read quickly.
• SECURE: to protect from being taken; to obtain from;
  We secured all our silverware from thieves.
• SCREEN: to show; to hide;
  The critics screened the movie.
  The critic's head screened the movie, so I couldn't watch it.
• SWALLOW: to accept a requirement; not to make a requirement;
  The union had to swallow the no-strike provision
  The union had to swallow their higher pay demands;
• TOO THIN: too thin / too fat.
  "You can't be too thin for this job."
  (It's impossible to be too thin for this job, so be very thin, or you mustn't be too thin for this job, so be fat.)
• TRIM: To remove excess / to add decorations.
  "We trimmed the Christmas tree..." (by removing excess limbs, or by adding tinsel.)
• UNQUALIFIED: complete, lacking nothing / lacking all qualification
  "He is an unqualified master..." (He's a master, period / He's a master, but has none of the qualifications necessary to be one.)
• YOUNGER: Less aged / occurring earlier in time.
  "These fossils are younger than those..." (meaning they aren't as old, or they were created earlier, and hence are older!)

There is a related, and rather amusing pasttime, which involves picking a word and its opposite, and then finding a path of synonyms that leads from one to the other, using, say, Roget's Thesaurus as arbiter. Thus a hopeful person is expectant, hence anticipating, anxious, fearful, and so in fact despairing!

A tip o' the formal hat to Jumpin' Jeff Borggaard.

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