Questions relating to words which are sometimes their own antonyms.
2
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1answer
98 views
Etymology of “Utopia”; counterintuitive
How did the word "Utopia" (coined by Sir Thomas More) come to mean an ideal place when the Greek etymology specifically means "Not a place."
Relatedly, while this might be the prime use of the word ...
17
votes
3answers
1k views
How did 'sanction' come to have two opposite meanings?
Sanction is an unusual ambiguous word to me. In some cases it means to approve some action, while in other cases it means to prohibit or punish some action; and there being near opposite meanings, ...
2
votes
2answers
226 views
Why can “bill” mean (almost) opposite things?
Bill is somewhat of an auto-antonym, since it can mean either a piece of paper which has positive monetary value (i.e. a note), or a piece of paper which has negative monetary value (though it only ...
7
votes
2answers
369 views
How did “strike” get its baseball meaning?
Strike as an English word (meaning to hit) is certainly older than strike as a baseball term (meaning not to hit), so what puzzles me is that the word adopted for the action is the exact opposite of ...
