Sound and Sense, 24

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.

sanction (verb)

1. to approve

2. to boycott

“I cannot sanction what you’ve done”—

So said the Judge that Judgment Day,

And I could only think, “Which one

Of that word’s meanings is in play?”

I found out later when I stepped

Inside the elevator. (Frown.)

For there I learned the secret kept:

Yes, all the buttons were for “Down.”

And when the elevator doors

Drew wide—it wasn’t all that neat.

For we had dropped so many floors—

And, oh, infernal, hellish HEAT!