I just learned a new word for another kind of silliness in the English language.
We all know what synonyms and antonyms are, but what about contranyms (also known as antagonyms)? These are homographs (two words spelled the same way) that can be their own antonyms, i.e. left (remaining, departed).
For a fuller treatment of the contranym and a list of examples, see the contronym post in the 'Fun With Words' section of rinkworks.com. The ODLT has a good definition of the contranym, along with some etymological remarks and an example of how such words can emerge in a language like English that has taken in so many foreign words in its formation.
Fun stuff!
