I'm Ruth and I'm Gruntled

Posted by on Aug 25, 2008 in Fast Horse | 7 comments

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We were talking the other day about something I’ve always found fascinating: words that seemingly have no opposite — or at least, an opposite that’s rarely, if ever, used.

I first thought of this years ago, reading something by H.L. Mencken in which he described a baby as “gruntled.” In all my years of reading and talking, that’s the only time I’ve ever come across that word. Yet people are commonly described as disgruntled.

You do sometimes hear about someone displaying couth, but have you ever referred to a careful person as reck? Is a kind and gentle business leader ruth? If your roof springs a leak, would you say it’s pervious to rain?

Got any other examples?

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  • http://doughamlin.com Doug

    There’s a great episode of The Office where Michael assures his boss that everyone in his office is quite gruntled. Another example: nonplussed. (And yes, pervious means exactly what you would think even though Firefox is underlining it as if it’s not a word.)

  • http://www.thesamerowdycrowd.com Mike Keliher

    Close but not the same: I used to think the word “concise” really needed a related noun, “concision,” much like “precise” has “precision.” Then, one magical day, I found out that concision really is a word. That’s was pretty cool.

    I know I’ve thought about several other examples of the phenomenon of which you speak, but of course, I can’t think of any right now. It’s like when someone says, “Tell me a joke.” You draw a blank. Until they leave the party, then you remember three of them.

  • http://www.fasthorseinc.com JohnR

    When I pass through Prior Lake, I’ve always thought there should be a town called Subsequent Lake.

  • http://www.thesamerowdycrowd.com Mike Keliher

    So, this isn’t the same thing, but it’s related and I need to get this off my chest:

    Indefatigable.

    What the hell is up with that word? Rooted in the word “fatigue,” I assume “fatigable” — if that’s even a word — would mean “to be capable of fatigue.”

    So wouldn’t just one of those prefixes — “in-” or “de-” — be sufficient to make the word then mean “no capable of fatigue”?

    Indefatigable strikes me as redundant, almost a double negative. Am I missing something?

  • http://www.thesamerowdycrowd.com Mike Keliher

    Also, I just thought of the damn word I was trying to think of when I first read this post:

    Have you ever heard anyone say, “I was very whelmed by that speech. It was good but not great.”

    Overwhelmed. Underwhelmed. But never just whelmed, eh?

  • http://www.fasthorseinc.com JohnR

    Good one!

  • http://www.fasthorseinc.com JohnR

    Also, peccable. Nothing is ever peccable, only impeccable.