words with contradictory meanings

riffing on language, what is this web site coming to

heaven forbid we should discuss things that were long ago settled by the ancients.

“downhill” is a weird one.. when people say “it was all downhill from there” they mean it got worse and worse from that point. so if you wanted to say the opposite you’d say “it was all uphill from there” but that implies effort and discomfort. uphill is hard! downhill is easy!

it's just really annoying when the boulder starts rolling back down again

well the word downhill hasnt changed meaning and i do think this is a case where the phrase is going to be highly contextualised

i enforce all downhill from here as a positive statement at work and i threaten sanctions if anyone objects

“downhill” is a weird one.. when people say “it was all downhill from there” they mean it got worse and worse from that point. so if you wanted to say the opposite you’d say “it was all uphill from there” but that implies effort and discomfort. uphill is hard! downhill is easy!

i think about this every time and i think a lot of other people must, too. it's amazing the phrase has lasted so long. whoever started it must have lived somewhere with a very steep, dangerous hill

Meanwhile Midwestern Americans are like, "What's a hill?"

Same with Floridians.

My friend got an 18 speed bike growing up and all his friends said "the fuck you need that for?"

I'd parse "it's all downhill from here" when used as a negative statement as meaning "the endeavor/business/artist has achieved their peak ability/quality/performance and aren't going to do better"... it's not a measure of effort, but quality

Downhill is worse on your knees

But better overall when it comes to rolling shit somewhere

it's like "i'm feeling a bit below par", well that's good right? i mean in golf and all...

in golf yes in many other usages its rather a target to attain tbf

downhill as a positive description has had a renaissance in team sports esp American football when players are described as "downhill runners" like they run with momentum and speed as if they are going downhill

From ILM:
Vince Guaraldi - A Charlie Brown Christmas: You cannot fuck with this album

The sentiment would be the same if it were:
Vince Guaraldi - A Charlie Brown Christmas: You MUST fuck with this album

^ good one

"favours" eg If someone favours a certain pen they own, that would mean they use it a lot. But if an athlete seems to be favouring her left leg it means she's using it as little as she can

I thought favouring a limb meant using it more because the other one is injured?

It does... doesn't it?

haha maybe i have always used this wrong

historically it has meant what tracer says: that e.g. you protect ("favour") the injured leg by using it less -- favour as in you're being kind to it

however the apparent contradiction tracer highlights means that modern usage has become pretty confused = you protect the injured leg by using ("favouring") the other one more -- favour as in you prefer to put weight on it

yeah i don’t have any memory of it being used that way but no doubt today’s simpletons LIKE TOM D AND NV have once again ruined language for everyone

every good leg deserves favour

time wounds all heels as the great man once said

words mean exactly what I intend them to mean

that's just mean

it's the mean but it's not necessarily just

resisting the urge to soapbox on "performative" again because social media has made it way too hard to use the word in a meaningful way without having to redefine it first

like I *wish* gender was just shallow surface posturing in the same vein as a brand's newfound wokeness. maybe it is that kind of thing just done really hard for thousands of years

I didn't resist that hard

drawing the curtains = opening or closing them. Dickens uses "undraw" for open, but I'm guessing that's obsolete everywhere, right?

“fast” is a great one

the lex otm, tuomas offtm

milk carton otms

apparently

Probably been done upthread but (US) could care less = (UK) couldn't care less

"Could care less" is in colloquial use, but it's still "wrong."

i could have sworn i already posted this. maybe i did it in the wrong thread fml. French has a couple of these, sorta

“pas terrible” - literally “not terrible” but actually means irredeemably bad

“fais gaffe” - literally “make a mistake” but actually means watch out, be careful, mind your step

i think the meaning of "pas terrible" is closer to "Well, it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't exactly great either"

as for "fais gaffe", perhaps it has something to do with the literal definition of "gaffe", since you are generally in an attentive state of mind when docking a boat with a boathook?

well the way my family uses it, it means “VERY terrible” - it’s tremendously counterintuitive which is why i included it here

ah this page explains it. “terrible” in the archaic sense of “terrific”. so “not great”

https://www.thoughtco.com/ce-nest-pas-terrible-1371144

so it serves for english too! i had to double check the full thread and i’m actually mildly surprised no one’s suggested it yet. “terrible” = 1) quite bad 2) terrific

I've definitely heard 'terrible' used to mean 'fantastic' in French. An uncle of mine (who is admittedly in his 80s) uses it that way.

yeah i feel like i've heard "terriblement" too like eg darling, would you mind terribly if i stayed the night with joan? i'd be ever so grateful for it

Captain Terrible and the Brown Dirt Cowboy

good one, Tracer

not quite opposites but:
https://i.redd.it/e8cjmmi3cwl21.jpg

applause

Garbage man vs. garbage person

xp amazing!

the "terribly" thing has echoes in English I think, eg "She's terribly educated" vs "She was terribly educated"..?

yes i think thats right

teddibly

“peak”