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A skunked term is a word or phrase that becomes difficult to use because it is evolving from one meaning to another, perhaps inconsistent or even opposite, usage, [1] or that becomes difficult to use due to other controversy surrounding the term. [2]
A member of a pair of opposites can generally be determined by the question What is the opposite of X ? The term antonym (and the related antonymy) is commonly taken to be synonymous with opposite, but antonym also has other more restricted meanings. Graded (or gradable) antonyms are word pairs whose meanings are opposite and which lie on a ...
The term "inverse consequences" has been in use for over 175 years (since at least 1835). [1] The term was also used by Auguste Comte (1798–1857) in his book System of Positive Polity (published 1875), stating, "Inevitable increase in Complication, in proportion with the decrease of Generality, gives rise to two inverse consequences."
Anticipation has been described as "the central ingredient in sexual desire." [5] [attribution needed] As "sex has a major cognitive component — the most important element for desire is positive anticipation".
Antiphrasis is the rhetorical device of saying the opposite of what is actually meant in such a way that it is obvious what the true intention is. [1] Some authors treat and use antiphrasis just as irony, euphemism or litotes. [2] When the antiphrasal use is very common, the word can become an auto-antonym, [3] having opposite meanings ...
An erosion gully in Australia caused by rabbits, an unintended consequence of their introduction as game animals. In the social sciences, unintended consequences (sometimes unanticipated consequences or unforeseen consequences, more colloquially called knock-on effects) are outcomes of a purposeful action that are not intended or foreseen.
An unpaired word is one that, according to the usual rules of the language, would appear to have a related word but does not. [1] Such words usually have a prefix or suffix that would imply that there is an antonym, with the prefix or suffix being absent or opposite.
Anticipatory anxiety, sometimes called future tripping, describes a type of fear that occurs when an anticipated event in the future causes distress. These events can include both major occasions, such as a presentation, but depending on the individual could also happen before some minor event, like going out.