Jammin’ Joints
April 11, 2013
My theme for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge is contronyms. A contronym is a word with two or more opposite meanings, making it its own antonym. Click here to find out more about these quirky words.
 
Lily with the letter LWe’ve arrived at day J of the A to Z challenge, which should be my favorite day because J is for Jocelyn. Unfortunately, the contronym options have put a damper on my alphabet enthusiasm because there is only one, lonely choice for J: joint. And it’s not even a fun contronym – it certainly didn’t inspire me to make a movie.
 
I do have to hand it to joint in that it has an unexpectedly long list of definitions. In sticking with the contronym theme, these are the two key meanings:
 
 
 
Joint – to combine or attach with a joint or joints
 
~ or ~
 
Joint – to separate (meat) at the joints
 
Both of these verb definitions deal with activity at the primary noun version of joint (a place at which two or more things are joined); it’s just that one is about dividing and one is about uniting. 
 
While I’m no vegetarian (mmmm… hamburgers!), I don’t really want to post a picture of bloody meat being butchered, so I think I’ll go with story time instead.
 
Mary met several men through an online dating site, and despite her initial fears, they were all lovely people – not a single serial killer among them. Unfortunately, even though they each had wonderful attributes, none of them were Mr. Right. But Mary was ready to settle down and realized her pickiness was going to result in her being forever alone.
 
So she invited all the men over for a party. As they made awkward small talk with each other, she watched, eyes roaming over each one, weighing their strengths and weakness.
 
One by one, they dropped to the floor, victims of the sedatives in their drinks. She dragged them to the basement.
 
Blake had amazing arms. They gave hugs that made her feel warm and safe. She jointed his arms at the shoulder and set them aside. 
 
Steve had wonderfully toned legs. He’d taken her dancing several times and whirled her around the floor making her feel like a professional ballroom dancer. She jointed his legs at the hip and set them aside.
 
Randy had elegant fingers. They produced beautiful music on several instruments. She jointed his hands at the wrists and set them aside.
 
skeletonTrevor had a joint that made her blush and swoon. She removed it and set it aside.
 
Jonathan had a handsome face and washboard abs that were delightful viewing. She jointed off the extra appendages and tossed them in the trash.
 
Then she jointed Blake’s arms, Steve’s legs, Randy’s fingers, and Trevor’s joint on to Jonathan’s torso. A little electricity. A black magic chant. And presto! Mary no longer had to wait for the perfect man – she’d created her own.
 
So in summary: a picture of bloody meat = yucky; a story about chopping up several people = totally fine. Yep, I’m a weirdo.
 
Are you familiar with contronyms? Even though I could only find one ‘J’ contronym doesn’t mean there aren’t others out there – can you think of any? How Jovial is Lily with her letter J?
 
Image courtesy of renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

My theme for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge is contronyms. A contronym is a word with two or more opposite meanings, making it its own antonym. Click here to find out more about these quirky words.
 
Lily with the letter LWe’ve arrived at day J of the A to Z challenge, which should be my favorite day because J is for Jocelyn. Unfortunately, the contronym options have put a damper on my alphabet enthusiasm because there is only one, lonely choice for J: joint. And it’s not even a fun contronym – it certainly didn’t inspire me to make a movie.
 
I do have to hand it to joint in that it has an unexpectedly long list of definitions. In sticking with the contronym theme, these are the two key meanings:
 
 
 
Joint – to combine or attach with a joint or joints
 
~ or ~
 
Joint – to separate (meat) at the joints
 
Both of these verb definitions deal with activity at the primary noun version of joint (a place at which two or more things are joined); it’s just that one is about dividing and one is about uniting. 
 
While I’m no vegetarian (mmmm… hamburgers!), I don’t really want to post a picture of bloody meat being butchered, so I think I’ll go with story time instead.
 
Mary met several men through an online dating site, and despite her initial fears, they were all lovely people – not a single serial killer among them. Unfortunately, even though they each had wonderful attributes, none of them were Mr. Right. But Mary was ready to settle down and realized her pickiness was going to result in her being forever alone.
 
So she invited all the men over for a party. As they made awkward small talk with each other, she watched, eyes roaming over each one, weighing their strengths and weakness.
 
One by one, they dropped to the floor, victims of the sedatives in their drinks. She dragged them to the basement.
 
Blake had amazing arms. They gave hugs that made her feel warm and safe. She jointed his arms at the shoulder and set them aside. 
 
Steve had wonderfully toned legs. He’d taken her dancing several times and whirled her around the floor making her feel like a professional ballroom dancer. She jointed his legs at the hip and set them aside.
 
Randy had elegant fingers. They produced beautiful music on several instruments. She jointed his hands at the wrists and set them aside.
 
skeletonTrevor had a joint that made her blush and swoon. She removed it and set it aside.
 
Jonathan had a handsome face and washboard abs that were delightful viewing. She jointed off the extra appendages and tossed them in the trash.
 
Then she jointed Blake’s arms, Steve’s legs, Randy’s fingers, and Trevor’s joint on to Jonathan’s torso. A little electricity. A black magic chant. And presto! Mary no longer had to wait for the perfect man – she’d created her own.
 
So in summary: a picture of bloody meat = yucky; a story about chopping up several people = totally fine. Yep, I’m a weirdo.
 
Are you familiar with contronyms? Even though I could only find one ‘J’ contronym doesn’t mean there aren’t others out there – can you think of any? How Jovial is Lily with her letter J?
 
Image courtesy of renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

Jocelyn Rish

Jocelyn Rish is a writer and filmmaker who never imagined her cheeky sense of humor would lead to a book about animal butts. When she's not researching fanny facts, she tutors kids to help them discover the magic of reading. Jocelyn has won numerous awards for her short stories, screenplays, short films, and novels and lives in South Carolina with her booty-ful dogs.