Re: Adjective opposites Vs. Lingustic Freedom

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 13:23:29 GMT

Hi Mister Micawber,

Here was my friends original use of the word:

Thanks for the article about Russia and the fairly non-informative email.

To which I replied with some light-hearted taunting:

...Also, the proper antonym of informative is uninformative. If we venture too willy-nilly into the world of adjective opposites we could end up with such awkward words as:

dislegal

unlogical

iltrue

dismature

imlogical

...and many more terrible variations.

And this stylistic rule:

Adjectival Opposites

The opposite or the negative aspect of an adjective can be formed in a number of ways. One way, of course, is to find an adjective to mean the opposite â an antonym. The opposite of beautiful is ugly, the opposite of tall is short. A thesaurus can help you find an appropriate opposite. Another way to form the opposite of an adjective is with a number of prefixes. The opposite of fortunate is unfortunate, the opposite of prudent is imprudent, the opposite of considerate is inconsiderate, the opposite of honorable is dishonorable, the opposite of alcoholic is nonalcoholic, the opposite of being properly filed is misfiled. If you are not sure of the spelling of adjectives modified in this way by prefixes (or which is the appropriate prefix), you will have to consult a dictionary, as the rules for the selection of a prefix are complex and too shifty to be trusted. The meaning itself can be tricky; for instance, flammable and inflammable mean the same thing.

(The above paragraph was taken from this website: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/adjectives.htm)

Thanks for the advice,

Eric

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Re: Adjective opposites Vs. Lingustic Freedom