Double Entendre

Although I am a somewhat unorthodox writer (I write how I speak without much bother of proper usage or grammatical perfection. And I have a penchant for slang) I am quite the fan of linguistics, grammar and syntax. I even subscribe to a daily grammar email. Every morning along side of all the spam, facebook updates and groupons, I receive a lovely bit of grammarly advice. Well, it’s not always lovely, sometimes it’s quite dull but on occasion (as happened last week), a gem will appear…

"Sanction" is something called a Janus word--a word with two opposite meanings. Such words are named after the Roman god Janus, who has two faces that look in opposite directions. Other Janus words are "cleave" (which can mean to cling to or to separate), "screen" (which can mean to review or display or to hide or shield from view), and "trim" (which can mean to remove things or add things).

I have never heard this term before, have you? I mean, of course I was aware that there existed words with two meanings; I just didn’t know they had their own name and I love it. Here is a list of other janus words

http://www.fun-withwords.com/nym_autoantonyms.html

Some words that aren’t on that list but also tend to have more than one meaning are:

Fat: Tissue that insulates

Fat: Feeling that deflates

Fat: Avocados

Diet: the way you eat

Diet: the way you don’t eat

Sugar: Good

Sugar: Bad

Sugar: Term of endearment

Health: The absence of sickness

Health: To Thrive

Exercise: Makes you feel great

Exercise: Hurts really bad

Fried Chicken: So freaking good

Fried Chicken: So freaking bad

Fried Chicken: Term of endearment (it could be)

Can you think of any words that you use to mean one thing but really they could mean something else? I know that when it comes to janus words I usually only use one meaning. I don’t think that I have ever used the word screen to mean, “shield from”. I have also never said, “My knees buckled at the sight of him”, however I am constantly buckled in safely while driving. I have never used the word cleave in a sentence, but if I were to, it would be in reference to a split, not a join. I do think that if I take the time to notice both definitions, the meaning I am using becomes richer. Knowing that a bolt can be a securing device and lighting fast action brings a deeper meaning to either definition.

Knowing that sugar can be a delicious treat and something to be avoided makes it easier to enjoy it in moderation. Recognizing that exercise rocks but is also a pain in the $%&* will help make it more doable, even when it burns.

Is there anything you are looking at as only black or white? Have you decided that the stair master is evil? Do you believe that fat is a feeling? If you pay attention to all the definitions of a word, you may find that it loses some of its power or gains a little more.

Be Good to your Body, it's where you Live