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Verbs with no antonyms

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Thomas,

Another great thread idea.

And for each assertion in this "game", the implied challenge is to come up with an antonym to disprove the assertion. So for "proceed" I'lls suggest antonyms of:

remain, stand, stay, stop.


[santa]Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[ Providing low-cost remote Database Admin services]
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Duh, Sorry !!! I just realised I'm not wearing my bifocals and I misread your "exceed" as "proceed".

Back to the drawing board. (And Forum Admin, please delete my previous post since I'm a blurry-sighted idiot.)


[santa]Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[ Providing low-cost remote Database Admin services]
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exceed <==> underachieve


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Hmm, yes, in the context of a particular achievement, that would work. Though "overachieve" would be the default choice.

But in the more general sense of "exceed", you'd need "de-ceed", which isn't a word.

Someone who exceeds the speed limit, doesn't slow down to "underachieve" the speed limit.





Thomas D. Greer

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Of course, Thomas, with each verb having the potential for many senses, multiple antonyms might be necessary to address all senses.

I'll assert a couple of possible verbs for which I have not yet identified any antonyms:

read
imagine
smack
see
experience
be

I'm sure I'll think of more, but my status report for the week is growing later each moment.

[santa]Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
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for the verb 'To be', the opposite is surely 'Not to be'!

[tt]_____
[blue]-John[/blue]
[/tt][red]Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur[/red]

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==> Though "overachieve" would be the default choice.
Overachieve might be the default choice if you were looking for an antonym of underachieve. However, the puzzle was to find what could be an antonym of exceed.

Now if the question for were to find verbs which have no antonym based on the same root, then underachieve would not qualify.

However, an antonym based on the same root would be recede. Exceed comes from Latin excedere - in (out or beyond) + cedere (to go). Recede come from Latin recedere - re (back) + cedere (to go).

Good Luck
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To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
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To test each of your refuting assertions, Thomas, I've applied a couple of tests:

1) Can I conjugate the asserted antonym while retaining the antithetical meaning of the original verb?

- "He unread the book." Does not make sense.
- "She unexperienced the feeling." Ditto.
- "nihility"...cannot conjugate.

2) Does using the asserted antonym imply the opposite of the original verb? Are the assertion and the original, at a single point in time, mutually exclusive?

- If I say, "They spoke to me," does that mean that "They cannot read while they speak"?
- "The girl experienced sorrow as she imagined her despair at losing her friend."
- "The sadist caressed his masochistic partner by smacking him."
- "The ornithologist loves to see and hear the first robin of Spring."

So far, I'm not seeing definitive antonyms for the verbs, above.

[santa]Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[ Providing low-cost remote Database Admin services]
Click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips if you use Oracle in Utah USA.
 
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I would like to withdraw the previously unnominated [blue]suckceed[/blue], as it simultaneously suggests both negative and positive connotations. [bigsmile]

As to anotherhiggins idea above, I am reminded of the nonexistent phrase, "[red]Never say n'etre[/red]."

tIm

[blue]______________________________________________________________
Once, while sitting on the bank of Stick Creek, I found myself thinking about small lakes. Then, I realized, I was probably just pondering. [/blue]
 
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The opposite of "gormless" would be "gormful". "Gorm" is a proper noun, the name of a Danish cheiftan in Jylland. It's also the name of a development environment for graphical interfaces.

In any case, neither "gorm", "gormless", or "gormful" are verbs, so aren't relevant to this thread.

:)



Thomas D. Greer

Providing PostScript & PDF
Training, Development & Consulting
 
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oh yeah, verbs are doing words, gormless is an...adjective?describing word???
only been about 15 years since I've needed to know that. Education is wasted on the young ;-)
 
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It would appear that verbs which describe actions which cannot be undone are antonym defunct

hammer: you can denail a piece of wood, but it doesn't undo the damage create by missing the nail
smack: caress is to sooth, but doesn't undo the physical pain, or emotional distress (in total)
eat: to uneat would be to have whole food reappear from your mouth?? regurgitation without the trickery
bomb: to not bomb at all would be best
kill: zombie's would have a place in modern day society, especially dangerous situations
drive: One can reverse, but is it possible to undrive a car from a fence or tree?
drink: Similar situation as to eat, not possible to render into previous intact exact state
write: you can't unwrite a book, poem or a letter
view: What has been witnessed, can only be forgotten, but not unseen


cigless ...
 
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I guess it all depends on what you mean by "antonym" (or "opposite"). Does "antonym" mean to "do the opposite" or does it mean "to undo the action", or what? I don't believe that the ability to undo an action has anything to do with whether or not the action has an antonym.

"erase" is commonly thought of as an antonym for "write"

What is the antonym of "drive"? If you mean "drive" as in "driving a car", then "walk" or "fly" would both qualify, depending on the context. If I say I'm not going to drive to the store, then I'd probably be walking. If I'm not going to drive to Florida, then I'd probably be flying.

Like we've discovered with so many other aspects of language, context, intent, understanding and many other facets unavoidably come into play.


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard. [dragon]
 
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