SOUND AND SENSE:
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.
consult verb
1. to offer
advice
2. to obtain
advice
He told the
NSA that he
Was happy to
consult.
He said he
was an expert in
A certain
kind of cult.
“We need,”
the NSA declared,
“Before we
can reply,
To meet,
consult with others—
Just to see
what kind of guy
You are.”
And he said he’d consult,
As well, and
let them know
If all this
consultation meant
That
everything was “go.”
The
consultations carried on
Or many many
years.
By then the
parties noticed that
No one had
any ears!
They all had
simply fallen off
Because of
overuse.
And so a
warning: This is what
Consulting
can produce.
No comments:
Post a Comment