• @Omega_Man
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    115 months ago

    Is there any example in history of something coming to mean its opposite?

      • @[email protected]
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        fedilink
        175 months ago

        A quantum leap is often used to emphasize a large step forward, however in physics it means the smallest possible change of state.

        • Flying SquidOP
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          65 months ago

          And this isn’t quite a contronym, but “silly” originally meant “blessed.”

          “Silly goes the other direction,” Curzan explains. “Silly goes all the way back to Old English, when silly meant happy or blessed.” This positive term quickly changed. Silly became a synonym for innocent or harmless, and then became an adjective for something or someone worthy of sympathy.

          Something we feel sympathy for is something that’s weak. And something that’s weak is unsophisticated. Finally, silly went on to mean ignorant and lacking sense.

          https://www.michiganpublic.org/arts-culture/2013-10-27/the-changing-meanings-of-nice-and-silly

          And, as that same article said, “nice” used to mean what silly means today.

      • @Viking_Hippie
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        145 months ago

        Also, the American Fascist Party is still officially called the Republican Party even though it wants to change the government form to theocratic fascism 🤷

      • @Omega_Man
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        55 months ago

        Oh yeah! Its funny, you can go to 19th century monuments in the US with swastikas carved into the stone.