Positively Seeking Orphaned/Unpaired Negatives.

[Mary Russell]

Deranged?

[Algot Runeman]

List update: [edited: 8/11/08 7:00pm EDT]
38 lonely/unpaired negatives (including the challenged words)

abrogate
abstain
ageless (* - incorporated from World Wide Words) (challenged)
countless (*) (challenged)
debilitate (challenged)
debunk (challenged)
discombobulate
discomfit
disconsolate (*) (challenged)
disembowel
disgust
dismantle (*) (challenged)
disparage
dyspeptic
hapless (*)
immaculate (This and the next stretch the 'rule' as they are very positive negatives...) (challenged)
impeccable (...being without stains or sins.)
inadvertent(ly)
incongruous (challenged)
indiscriminiate (challenged)
ineffable (*)
inevitable
innocent (*) (challenged)
inviolate (challenged)
nondescript (challenged)
nonplussed
off kilter (challenged for being two words) (Spelling corrected; thanks, Sue.)
ruthless
unbeknownst
uncouth (challenged)
unflappable
ungainly (*)
unkempt (*)
unmentionables
unrequited (challenged)
unseemly
untoward (*)
unwieldy

Recent suggestions to be checked:
disturbed, distressed, deranged, dystopia, ingratiate

Keep 'em coming!
--Algot

[mccormack44]

Where's Laurie when I need her?

off kliter

Of course you meant off kilter.

Sue

[Mary Russell]

So, how are you designated contested words? I thought a lot of us agreed uncouth is highly contested due to couth being a word in relatively frequent use.

[tollbaby]

Have to disagree with the following:

ageless (* - incorporated from World Wide Words) - what about aged?
countless (*) - we gave up on counting at some point?
debilitate - what about habilitate or rehabilitate? - granted, the first isn't used much outside of medical fields
debunk - I've often heard the term "bunk"... are we discounting it because it essentially means the same thing?
disconsolate (*) - do we discount "Console" because it's not the same word format?
immaculate (This and the next stretch the 'rule' as they are very positive negatives...) - maculate and macular are science/maths terms, aren't they?
incongruous - I've not only read the word "congruous" from several sources, I actually have used it in conversation myself
indiscriminiate - no one discriminates anymore?
inevitable - I don't like this one, but I'll concede that the English usage for "evitable" is practically non-existent - stolen from French though
innocent - I've read "nocent" in a few books, but my mind never made the leap to the opposite of innocent LOL
inviolate - I guess their personal space hasn't been violated lately...
nondescript - what about description? again because of the word format?
off kilter (challenged for being two words) - and I'm challenging it because I've often heard the term "Even kilter"
uncouth - as mentioned above, "couth" is a perfectly valid, still-used word
unmentionables - this isn't really a negative though.... it's just a PC term - but I'll concede it
unrequited - I've often read of both unrequited AND requited love

Recent suggestions to be checked:
disturbed, distressed, deranged, dystopia, ingratiate - Well, dystopia doesn't work, cause it's the opposite of utopia, isn't it? The others seem okay though

k, I'll shut up now.

[umsolopagas]

Tollbaby, I agree with most of your observations except for:

debunk - I've often heard the term "bunk"... are we discounting it because it essentially means the same thing?

debunk - to expose
bunk - a bed

uncouth - as mentioned above, "couth" is a perfectly valid, still-used word

I'm not quite entirely happy with couth , and I hope you and Mary mean that it is used in an every-day sense.

My encounters of its usage have been mainly in the literary world, where , I bet, you will sooner find someone who can recite Harry Potter incantations faster than use couth in a sentence.

(That felt good, I'm starting to get couth )

disconsolate (*) - do we discount "Console" because it's not the same word format?

"consolate" would be the word that we hardly use.

innocent - I've read "nocent" in a few books, but my mind never made the leap to the opposite of innocent LOL

Before I throw this as an unpaired word I would like to hear my parents use "nocent" in the next ten years (as far as I know none of them have slipped it into a sentence in thirty years).

[umsolopagas]

off kilter

[tollbaby]

Tollbaby, I agree with most of your observations except for:

debunk - I've often heard the term "bunk"... are we discounting it because it essentially means the same thing?

debunk - to expose
bunk - a bed

There is more than one meaning for the word bunk, my friend Check the dictionary.

uncouth - as mentioned above, "couth" is a perfectly valid, still-used word

I'm not quite entirely happy with couth , and I hope you and Mary mean that it is used in an every-day sense.

My encounters of its usage have been mainly in the literary world, where , I bet, you will sooner find someone who can recite Harry Potter incantations faster than use couth in a sentence.

(That felt good, I'm starting to get couth )

"couth" is a sort of slang term for "culture" or "class", and yes, I have heard it used in conversation and read it in articles and books alike.

disconsolate (*) - do we discount "Console" because it's not the same word format?

"consolate" would be the word that we hardly use.
[/quote]

Yes, and inconsolate is the opposite of the word "consoled", which was my question - are we THAT picky about word format in this case? I'd like to hear Algot's thoughts.

innocent - I've read "nocent" in a few books, but my mind never made the leap to the opposite of innocent LOL

Before I throw this as an unpaired word I would like to hear my parents use "nocent" in the next ten years (as far as I know none of them have slipped it into a sentence in thirty years).

Just because your parents have never used a word doesn't make it "out of usage". I've heard it used and read it in recent articles. I also knew what it meant without looking it up. I would hope I would never depend on my parents as the sole sources of word usage (especially since my father's vocabulary is somewhat deficient).

[the grim squeaker]

Incision?

[mccormack44]

I don't think the "in" is a negative in incision. An incision is a cut, from "incise _ to cut into." so the in this case "in" is a direction rather than a negative.

Sue

[Algot Runeman]

This topic is a beautiful thing, so it is not <b>unsightly</b>.

I am not familiar with sightly being commonly used. People would choose to say "comely" for variation from "good looking".

Comments on earlier questions:

disconsolate is usually defined with "inconsolable" which I would match with "consolable" for the positive form. I didn't find a definition out there for "consolate" It is true that "console" is common to all of these, but the opposite is "not console", It appears that "disconsolate" is structured to be different from the other forms. That is why I would like to see it included as an unmatched negative.

"Disturb" - The Online Etymology Dictionary tells me that Dis- means "completely" for this context: Completely in turmoil. So, in spite of being a generally negative state of being, "disturbed" doesn't seem to fit in our list.

"Distressed" is also "distress" as "in trouble". It doesn't seem that "distressed" is a negative form of "stressed", really; and certainly it doesn't mean the opposite of "tressed" in the sense of "long and lovely tresses".

"Deranged" has "arranged" for an opposite. Here is one that fits the word form argument given for "consoled" above. Simple spelling changes don't wreck the pair.

"Utopia" was coined by Thomas More, apparently for the title of his book about a nonexistent place and was formed from Greek origins "not-place". Utopia was imagined to be a perfect place, which leads us to "dystopia" as a very imperfect place. The negation is conceptual rather than linguistic. "Ain't" language fun?

"Ingratiate" means "bring oneself into favor" which is linguistically positive, even if we don't always like people who try to ingratiate themselves to us and see their behavior as negative behavior.

I agree with Sue (mccormack44) that "incision" is to be "excised" from the list.

I'll pause for now to take my dog's paws for a walk.

Keep em coming!
--Algot

[Algot Runeman]

Yes, it has been a little while since this topic was at the top of the page. That's okay.

I remain insouciant. I casually lack concern. I cannot recall being souciant in spite of being mildly concerned many times for other reasons.

The rush is over, but there will continue to be positive interest in this negative topic.

Keep up the trickle of interest.
--Algot

[felonius]

"Stanley!"

"Mmmmm? Eh? Whuzzat?"

"Stanley, you haven't fallen asleep have you? We have to be at the wedding in 30 minutes!"

"...in thirty? Cripes. *hic* No problem, I'm ready."

"You're not ready at all! You're completely dishevelled!"

"Utter nonsense, my dear. *HIC* I'm completely...er...shevelled. Er...have you seen my shoes, dumpling?"



(late in coming, but fun thread, Mr. Runeman)

[CodeBlower]

Personally, I think y'all have spent a disproportionate amount of time on this .. but could we get an updated list of what's settled vs. what's contested?

BTW, I'm with tollbaby on "debunk" .. I've heard "That's a load of bunk." more than once ..

[Algot Runeman]

Keeping everything in proportion is difficult in this world, just look at the disparity of buys and sells in the world's stock markets.

Bowing to the kind request of CodeBlower, here is the current list:

26 unchallenged lonely/unpaired negatives as of the start of this post...stay tuned.
(this time a split list -- challenges follow unchallenged words)
15 challenged -- the effort has produced more hits than misses so far.

abrogate
abstain
dischevelled
discombobulate
discomfit
disembowel
disgust
disparage
dyspeptic
hapless (*)
impeccable
inadvertent(ly)
ineffable (*)
inevitable
insouciant
nonplussed
ruthless
unbeknownst
unflappable
ungainly (*)
unkempt (*)
unmentionables
unseemly
unsightly
untoward (*)
unwieldy

Challenged segment of list:
ageless (* - incorporated from World Wide Words) (challenged)
countless (*) (challenged)
debilitate (challenged)
debunk (challenged)
disconsolate (*) (challenged)
dismantle (*) (challenged)
immaculate (challenged)
incongruous (challenged)
indiscriminiate (challenged)
innocent (*) (challenged)
inviolate (challenged)
nondescript (challenged)
off kilter (challenged for being two words)
uncouth (challenged)
unrequited (challenged)

Okay, so far, so good.

But while I am often full of bunk, I have not just stayed asleep in my bunk since my last submission. I exit the bunker of my safe silence (my keyboard makes noise as I strike the letters) to offer a few more negatives for attack, support, or complete disregard by the forum.

I have not been accused of being <b>abstemious</b> in matters of food, at least.
That I can <b>unravel</b> the mystery of this list seems possible, but doubt it is common to <b>ravel</b> even though I did find a definition for the positive.
My third new proposal proves I have not been <b>indolent</b> in scribbling words on a scratch pad when they came to me while away from both the forum and the computer.

Finally, it makes me a bit unsettled, taking an unsteady path, as I offer <b>ataxia</b> for the list because it is a medical term, and am not sure if that opens a list of words only used in a professional vocabulary. If the negative is rarely used in common conversation, is it proper to even worry if it has an even less used or missing positive?

If these go unchallenged, the "approved" list will have 30 outdoing the challenges by a factor of two (double the trouble).

Keep 'em churning in your subconscious, even if they don't keep coming to the list.
--Algot

[mccormack44]

My (old) dictionary (© 1967) gives ravel as a synonym of unravel (see also Macbeth: knit the ravel'd sleeve of care). I thought that we were discarding synonyms.

I have heard modern knitters say something like "I'll just ravel this out" although I've heard unravel much more frequently.

Sue

[Algot Runeman]

Inadequate opposites and non-negating negatives tangle me in shame for not raveling the essential equivalence. Thanks for your effective use of the dictionary from my college days, Sue, and a good quote from the Bard confirms the need to reject.

To try to keep the round number of 30 acceptable negatives, I'll put forward <b>insipid</b> in my tasteless manner.

[Dr. T]

Distinguish was suggested, and I add extinguish.

display (play is not its opposite)
malady
malaise
malapert
malison
malign (its opposite is benign; lign means wood)
malversation

[Algot Runeman]

It has been 17 months since the preceding post. Those wishing to see the topic sink gradually to forum oblivion will not be happy to see the topic on the first page again.

Nonetheless, I shall be their antagonist. The hiatus of posts hasn't limited the percolation of either coffee or the concept behind the contest. Today's addition is ready to do battle on the field.

Antagonist

Though its very nature is to challenge, maybe this word will meet its foes and be victorious, joining the other 26 uncontested terms.

What sport; on with the game!

[KeE]

Antagonist - Protagonist are a still living siamese couple.

[Algot Runeman]

Thank you KeE.

Antagonist - Protagonist

Percolate me some more (stronger) coffee.

My brain was only working within the word, seeing/seeking the root part as the positive. Consulting my etymology sources gave me "contest" and "contest against" where in a battle or sport, there were paired antagonists, equal in being against (negatives) of one another in the contest. I completely ignored the literature of literature where the hero is heroic and not seen in any negative context. He is a protagonist, even if an amateur in sport.

update: The etymology source suggested it isn't "pro", positive, but "proto", as in first or main character of the drama.

Obviously, I need to step outside for a while, fresh air may clear my foggy head.

Siamese, though? Aren't both words from Greek?

[KeE]

What would the hero be without the evil overlord? I was of course thinking of the two as siamese twins.

[Algot Runeman]

Well, color me amazed.

Trumping our own marvelous ibdof-community-compiled list of unpaired negatives is a list of words that are antonyms of themselves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_au ... in_English

[Mary Russell]

Thought you might enjoy this (in the vein of this thread):


A tale of requited love
by Jack Winter/The New Yorker

It had been a rough day, so when I walked into the party I was very chalant, despite my efforts to appear gruntled and consolate.

I was furling my wieldy umbrella for the coat check when I saw her standing alone in a corner She was a descript person, a woman in a state of total array. Her hair was kempt, her clothing shevelled, and she moved in a gainly way.

I wanted desperately to meet her, but I knew I'd have to make bones about it since I was traveling cognito. Beknownst to me, the hostess, whom I could see both hide and hair of, was very proper, so it would be skin off my nose if anything bad happened. And even though I had only swerving loyalty to her, my manners couldn't be peccable. Only toward and heard-of behavior would do.

Fortunately, the embarrassment that my maculate appearance might cause was evitable. There were two ways about it, but the chances that someone as flappable as I would be ept enough to become persona grata or a sung hero were slim. I was, after all, something to sneeze at, someone you could easily hold a candle to, someone who usually aroused bridled passion.

So I decided not to risk it. But then, all at once, for some apparent reason, she looked in my direction and smiled in a way that I could make heads or tails of.

I was plussed. It was concerting to see that she was communicado, and it nerved me that she was interested in a pareil like me, sight seen.

Normally, I had a domitable spirit, but, being corrigible, I felt capacitated--as if this were something I was great shakes at--and forgot that I had succeeded in situations like this only a told number of times. So, after a terminable delay, I acted with mitigated gall and made my way through the ruly crowd with strong givings.

Nevertheless, since this was all new hat to me and I had no time to prepare a promptu speech, I was petuous. Wanting to make only called-for remarks, I started talking about the hors d'oeuvres, trying to abuse her of the notion that I was sipid, and perhaps even bunk a few myths about myself.

She responded well, and I was mayed that she considered me a savory character who was up to some good. She told me who she was. "What a perfect nomer," I said, advertently. The conversation become more and more choate, and we spoke at length to much avail. But I was defatigable, so I had to leave at a godly hour. I asked if she wanted to come with me. To my delight, she was committal. We left the party together and have been together ever since. I have given her my love, and she has requited it.

[Algot Runeman]

Thought you might enjoy this...

Wow!

Thanks, Mary.

Can we get Jack Winter to join us here on IBDoF? It's clear he loves the play of words across his tongue and around his aural cochleae.