Sound and Sense, 37

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.

with (prep)

1. alongside

2. against

I stood with you when you were wrong;

I fought with you when you were right;

I sold you out for just a song;

I told the world you weren’t too bright;

I took your lover (once) to bed;

I trashed you once on Twitter, too;

I vandalized your car with red;

I vandalized your house with blue.

But I was wondering just now

If friendship-fracture ever mends.
I mean—is there a way (somehow?)

That you and I could still be friends?