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.
After the uninspiring contronym choices for N, I was delighted to see O had so many fun ones to choose from. Now I feel a strong urge to whine about it being too hard to pick just one to feature, but that seems petty after whining about yesterday’s lack of worthwhile offerings. So instead, I’ll close my eyes and randomly stab my finger at one. Okay . . . the lucky winner is out. Out is another word with a page full of various definitions, but for the purpose of contronyms we have:Out – depleted, extinguished, i.e. invisible
~ or ~
Out – into the open, i.e. visible
“The stars are out! The stars are out!”
Shane didn’t look up from his game of God of War as his younger brother Mark ran inside shouting. He shrugged. “Big whoop, it’s nighttime. The stars are supposed to be out. It’s kind of their thing.”
“That’s not it, smartass. They’re out, as in no longer twinkling. There’s nothing there – just a black sky.”
That was enough to make Shane glance away from the screen. His eyes flicked to the window. “It’s just clouds, dipshit. A storm must be rolling in.” A grunt from the TV signaled Kratos was being killed by a Gorgon. Mark cursed and turned back to slaying the beast with a series of violent thumb movements.
Mark rushed to his brother and yanked the controller from his hands. Shane leaped from the couch. “I’m going to kill you!”
Mark ran outside with the controller clutched to his chest. When Shane caught up, Mark pointed to the sky before Shane could hit him. Mark whispered, “No clouds.”
Shane’s mouth dropped open as he saw the sky was clear. Completely clear. Not a light to be seen against the velvety darkness. When Shane finally found his voice, it came out as more of a squeak. “We need to tell someone.”
A voice behind them rumbled, “Oh, I think they already know.”
Are you familiar with contronyms? Can you think of any other ‘O’ contronyms? How Outstanding is Bailey with her letter O?
Image courtesy of aopsan / 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.
After the uninspiring contronym choices for N, I was delighted to see O had so many fun ones to choose from. Now I feel a strong urge to whine about it being too hard to pick just one to feature, but that seems petty after whining about yesterday’s lack of worthwhile offerings. So instead, I’ll close my eyes and randomly stab my finger at one. Okay . . . the lucky winner is out. Out is another word with a page full of various definitions, but for the purpose of contronyms we have:Out – depleted, extinguished, i.e. invisible
~ or ~
Out – into the open, i.e. visible
“The stars are out! The stars are out!”
Shane didn’t look up from his game of God of War as his younger brother Mark ran inside shouting. He shrugged. “Big whoop, it’s nighttime. The stars are supposed to be out. It’s kind of their thing.”
“That’s not it, smartass. They’re out, as in no longer twinkling. There’s nothing there – just a black sky.”
That was enough to make Shane glance away from the screen. His eyes flicked to the window. “It’s just clouds, dipshit. A storm must be rolling in.” A grunt from the TV signaled Kratos was being killed by a Gorgon. Mark cursed and turned back to slaying the beast with a series of violent thumb movements.
Mark rushed to his brother and yanked the controller from his hands. Shane leaped from the couch. “I’m going to kill you!”
Mark ran outside with the controller clutched to his chest. When Shane caught up, Mark pointed to the sky before Shane could hit him. Mark whispered, “No clouds.”
Shane’s mouth dropped open as he saw the sky was clear. Completely clear. Not a light to be seen against the velvety darkness. When Shane finally found his voice, it came out as more of a squeak. “We need to tell someone.”
A voice behind them rumbled, “Oh, I think they already know.”
Are you familiar with contronyms? Can you think of any other ‘O’ contronyms? How Outstanding is Bailey with her letter O?
Image courtesy of aopsan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
