BMO  +  120823 Sun, 24 Jul 05 08:38 AM A terrific headache is a bad thing, but a terrific guy is a good thing. Terrific has two opposite meanings. Is there a name in grammar?   Thanks.   bmo BMO Joined on Tue, Aug 17 2004 Full Member 164 Grammar

	tot2ivn  +  120837 Sun, 24 Jul 05 09:39 AM Stupid english trivia. I needed to look this word up today, and according to Dictionary.com (Ref: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language), the word Terrific is it's own antonym. Whenever I don't want to tell my stepson how I really felt about a movie, I can just say it was "terrific".   ter·rif·ic   (t-rfk) adj. Very good or fine; splendid: a terrific tennis player. Awesome; astounding: drove at a terrific rate of speed. Causing terror or great fear; terrifying: a terrific wail. Very bad or unpleasant; frightful: a terrific headache. tot2ivn Joined on Mon, Jun 27 2005 Deagu, Korea New Member 17 Nothing is impossible ...No0one is invincible !! Antonyms

	davkett  +  120915 Sun, 24 Jul 05 04:11 PM Interesting question. Interesting response...although I'm not convinced that the various meanings can be considered as 'antonyms'.  There are many, many words that have multiple meanings, and not just in the English language.  In this case, 'frightful' as the definition of 'terrific' is not really an antonym to 'extraordinary', or 'magnificent' (Merriam-Webster).  The root idea may be something along the lines of 'excitement', that is, the arousal of the emotions, from fear on one end of the spectrum to joy on the other.  'Very good' in no.1,  and 'very bad' in no.4 are judgmental terms--are those quotations from your dictionary source?  Ultimately, what is not 'stupid' is the notion that the meaning of a word (or a phrase, or a sentence) is determined by its context. Also, 'terrific' would not be the best word to use with your stepson if you're trying to be ambiguous, because no matter what definition is inferred, there is a suggestion of intense excitement. davkett Joined on Tue, Jun 7 2005 Pennsylvania, USA Senior Member 2,788 "The rose stays fresh in its name..." -Bernard of Morlay Tenses, Antonyms

	BMO  +  120944 Sun, 24 Jul 05 06:33 PM Thank you both. Indeed it is a very interesting word. I thought it might have a name for it in grammar. bmo BMO Grammar

	davkett  +  120981 Sun, 24 Jul 05 11:11 PM Don't give up on the question, BMO.  There may be a grammatical term for it.  If there is , someone on Englishforums will know.  Stay tuned. davkett

	julielai  +  120988 Sun, 24 Jul 05 11:38 PM There are more words like this: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~cellis/antagonym.html julielai Joined on Sun, Oct 24 2004 Senior Member 3,836 Just another blogger (http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/julie-lai)