CRAZY ENGLISH by Richard Lederer

Author:Richard Lederer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: POCKET BOOKS
Published: 1998-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

a moot point

buckle. fasten together; fall apart: a. Safe drivers buckle their seat belts. b. Unsafe buildings buckle at the slightest tremor of the earth.

trip. to stumble; to move gracefully: a. Don’t trip on the curb. b. Let’s trip the light fantastic.

put out. generate; extinguish: a. The candle put out enough light for us to see. b. Before I went to bed, I put out the candle.

unbending. rigid; relaxing: a. On the job Smith is completely unbending. b. Relaxing on the beach is a good way of unbending.

wear. endure through use; decay through use: a. This suit will wear like iron. b. Water can cause mountains to wear.

scan. examine carefully; glance at hastily: a. I scan the poem. b. Each day, I scan the want ads.

fix. restore, remove part of: a. It’s time to fix the fence. b. It’s time to fix the bull.

seeded. with seeds; without seeds: a. The rain nourished the seeded field. b. Would you like some seeded raisins?

critical. opposed; essential to: a. Joanne is critical of our effort. b. Joanne is critical to our effort.

think better. admire more; be suspicious of: a. I think better of the first proposal than the second. b. If I were you, I’d think better of that proposal.

great deal. bargain; a lot of money: a. The cars are a great deal. b. The cars cost a great deal.

continue. proceed; put off proceeding: a. Let’s continue negotiating. b. The judge decided to continue the case.

critical. essential; opposed: a. Her speech was critical to the campaign. b. He was critical of her speech.

stem. to emanate from; to shut off activity: a. The problem stems from a blown fuse. b. We must stem the tide of ignorance.

flush. to remove from sight; to cause to come into sight: a. Flush the dental floss down the drain. b. Flush out the quail from the bush.

below par. excellent; poor: a. Her below-par golf score won the tournament. b. I’m disappointed with your below-par performance on the spelling test.

down hill. adverse; easy: a. When the source of capital dried up, the fortunes of the corporation went down hill. b. After you switch to diet drinks, it will be all down hill for your weight-loss program.

impregnable. invulnerable to penetration; able to be impregnated: a. The castle was so strongly built that it was impregnable. b. Treatments exist for making a childless woman more impregnable.

block out. develop; conceal: a. The committee blocked out a plan. b. The smog blocked out the sun.

blow up. expand; destroy: a. Let’s blow up the photograph of the air base. b. Let’s blow up the air base.

take (double contronym). obtain; offer: a. Professional photographers take good pictures. b. Professional models take good pictures.

take. steal; earn: a. He took $100 from the dresser. b. He took $100 for mowing the lawn.

wind up. start; end: a. I have to wind up my watch. b. Now I have to wind up this discussion of curious and contrary contronyms.

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