Palinkasocsi  +  499773 Sat, 12 Apr 08 04:18 PM Can we say that: good - bad --- these two words are opposites (diametrical opposites) BUT in --- It was a wonderful party vs. It was a lousy party --- 'wonderful' vs. 'lousy' are NOT opposites but they are in opposition? In other words, do you agree that good-bad; black-white; male-female etc. are OPPOSITES, while if a pair of words cannot be cleary measured as DIAMETRICAL OPPOSITES, it is better to say that they are IN OPPOSITION (rather than they are OPPOSITES)? Thank you very much. Palinkasocsi Joined on Mon, Nov 26 2007 Hungary Full Member 268

	Clive  +  499776 Sat, 12 Apr 08 04:30 PM Hi, Can we say that: good - bad --- these two words are opposites (diametrical opposites) Yes. BUT in --- It was a wonderful party vs. It was a lousy party --- 'wonderful' vs. 'lousy' are NOT opposites but they are in opposition? In other words, do you agree that good-bad; black-white; male-female etc. are OPPOSITES, while if a pair of words cannot be cleary measured as DIAMETRICAL OPPOSITES, it is better to say that they are IN OPPOSITION (rather than they are OPPOSITES)? The term 'in opposition' may perhaps be commonly used like this in technical linguistic discussions. I don't know. But it is not used like this in everyday English, where the word 'opposition' usually suggests resistance, antagonism. eg There was a lot of opposition to his idea.  Best wishes, Clive Clive Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004 Canada Veteran Member 29,582 El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo

	Palinkasocsi  +  500107 Sun, 13 Apr 08 11:31 AM Thanks Clive, but you know, I am trying to make a terminological  distinction between two two pairs (good-bad; wonderful-lousy) since I feel that the relation between 'good-bad' is diametrical 'oppositeness', while the 'wonderful-lousy' pair does not definitely have this obvious diametrical oppositeness relation (or can we say that the diametrical opposite of 'wonderful' is 'lousy'? Why not 'ugly', 'miserable', 'terrible', etc.?). So if we say that 'good' and 'bad' are diametrically opposites, how can we define the relation between say 'wonderful-lousy'? Thank you! Palinkasocsi

	Clive  +  500117 Sun, 13 Apr 08 12:37 PM Hi, Well, now that you have explained your thinking carefully like that, I don't see why you couldn't say that they are 'in opposition'. You just need to ensure that the people you are addressing understand what you mean. You might also start using modifiers, like 'these two terms are somewhat opposed to each other'. Best wishes, Clive Clive

	Palinkasocsi  +  500233 Sun, 13 Apr 08 07:05 PM The thing is that I am writing an essay and I should make a terminological distinction between pairs where the relation of 'oppositeness' is obvious (alive-dead) and where it is not (beautiful-lousy?bad?terrible?). I appreciate your efforts Clive, but I still don't have an answer. Any suggestions? Many thanks! Palinkasocsi Essays

	Clive  +  500257 Sun, 13 Apr 08 08:14 PM Hi, I said that  I don't see why you couldn't say that they are 'in opposition'. Is that not satisfactory to you? Best wishes again, Clive Clive

	Palinkasocsi  +  500677 Mon, 14 Apr 08 06:08 PM Thanks for your persistence, Clive. The problem this time is that perhaps BOTH types of pairs (wonderful-lousy; alive-dead) could be termed: to be in opposition. I just wanted to find exclusive terminology for these different groups. That is terminology allowing no transitions between the two types. Best Palinkasocsi

	Clive  +  500757 Mon, 14 Apr 08 09:54 PM Hi, I think you just need to choose a term, eg in opposition, and then define it so that the reader knows the meaning that you are attaching to it. Best wishes, Clive Clive