Contronym Quiz

Yesterday in Church, the word 'garnish' was used quite frequently in talks and lessons. It was from the new Young Men and Young Women's theme of "Let Virtue Garnish Your Thoughts Unceasingly". Kind of wordy, but an important concept all the same. In an attempt to make the theme a bit more interesting, I tried to convey to the kids that the word 'garnish' was cool because it is a contronym. Contronyms (also called autoantonyms) are words that have two definitions that are the opposite of each other. Garnish means both to enhance (e.g., food) or to curtail (e.g., wages). My friend Garrett pointed me to the word 'hardly' which means both to do something with great effort or to do something with little effort.

So class, your assignment is to take the list of words below and figure out the two meanings. You can go to Rinkworks.com if you need a little help.


apology
bolt
custom
dust
enjoin
fast
give out
handicap
left
off
put out
quite
rent
screen
transparent
variety
weather


For a bit of history on the contronym, see this Wiki article.

This was interesting...

Your Preppy Name Is...

Weston Atherton Cabot the Sixth But most people know you as Tip

What's Your Preppy Name?

I've been mulling over possible New Year's Resolutions for the past week or so and I don't think I'm in the mood to follow through with any. I have a few items in mind that I will do, but they are kind of personal, so I'm sure you will forgive me if I don't post 'em here. The big problem I am having with the resolutions is that I was looking over last years resolutions and I don't think I hardly made a dent in anything I was going to do. I think I lost maybe 10 lbs. I worked on everything else, but nada. Granted some items were out of my hands (like get published or get engaged, because this requires the free-will of others), but generally I got close but not close enough. I don't know if I'm in the mood to give everybody false expectations of what I want and then not follow through. If I'm gonna be a loser, why advertise it? You will have to figure that out on your own.

In Memoriam: Toonces the Cat

Toonces, whom many of you have known and adored (or at least put up with) was euthanised yesterday due to a serious medical condition. Now, I'm not what you would call a 'pet person', but he was a part of the family for the better part of eight years, so he grew on ya. Besides, my sis really loved him, I guess it spilled over to the rest of us. God speed, old friend.

RESOLUTIONS REVISITED - coming soon.

(Sorry it is taking so long. I've had the flu for the past few days and it really has me off line for all intents and purposes. All I can muster is to sit around in a stupor. 1/8/07)

Meanwhile...

It's Nerfman!

Another entry in my Alternative Universe Candy selection.



Note that I didn't make this one, but I wish I did.