ESL Vocabulary and Idioms

Re: Terrific

BMO — Sun, 24 Jul 2005 23:24:25 GMT

Thanks. The website helps.

bmo

Re: Terrific

julielai — Sun, 24 Jul 2005 22:38:16 GMT

There are more words like this:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~cellis/antagonym.html

Re: Terrific

davkett — Sun, 24 Jul 2005 22:11:59 GMT

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.

Re: Terrific

BMO — Sun, 24 Jul 2005 17:33:09 GMT

Thank you both. Indeed it is a very interesting word. I thought it might have a name for it in grammar.

bmo

Re: Terrific

davkett — Sun, 24 Jul 2005 15:11:39 GMT

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.

Re: Terrific

tot2ivn — Sun, 24 Jul 2005 08:39:14 GMT

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.

Terrific

BMO — Sun, 24 Jul 2005 07:38:28 GMT

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