Sound and Sense, 23

Our English dictionary has in it many words whose sounds and meanings can … confuse. In this next series of doggerel, I’ll be writing about several sorts of such words.

The first—the contronym: a word, says the Oxford English Dictionary, that has “two opposite or contradictory meanings.”

Earliest published use: 1962.

rock (noun)

1. an immobile mass of stone (or figuratively similar phenomenon)

2. a shaking or unsettling movement or action

Old Ahab stood there, like a rock,

While grim old Moby-Dick attacked.

He tolerated no loose talk—

He hated Moby, that’s a fact.

He felt the boat, its troubled rock,

And knew they’d very likely sink.

He hummed a tune from J. S. Bach—

As life itself seemed on the brink.

The whale had won—that’s no surprise.

Destruction was both sure and quick,

And left were only Ishmael’s eyes …

And this: Don’t mess with Moby-Dick!