A funny interaction I witnessed recently will constitute a good introduction for this treatise. Three students were having a discussion with one of my colleagues in the latter’s office, and I walked into the office. On seeing me, one of the three students said, “talk of the devil”.
The two others, wondering why their friend would link me with the devil or anything that had the name “devil” in it, gave her a scornful look. To salvage the situation, I had to disclose that “devil”, as used in the idiom, carries no negative implication.
The expression, “talk of the devil”, is used when an absent person who has been the subject of discussion appears. In the furtherance of the foregoing, this piece will discuss other expressions and lexical items that could be erroneously interpreted as having negative meanings, when they actually do not.
Sounding somewhat contrary to its meaning is the expression “rude health”. Given that, when people are rude, they act impolitely towards other people or make uncomplimentary remarks about them, it is astonishing that being in rude health carries a positive meaning. If someone is in rude health, they are strong and healthy, as in:
The old man is in rude health; he still jogs at 80.
Also in this category is “red-letter day”. Although colour red is linked with love in some cultures, it strongly suggests danger in many societies. While one may think a “red-letter day” is a day characterised by danger, a red-letter day is, in point of fact, a day you will always remember because of a positive development you experienced then. Hence, it is a special, happy and important day.
What is more, the use of the negator “not” suggests a negative meaning. However, it conveys a positive meaning in the expression “couldn’t agree more” and “couldn’t love you more”. If you say you couldn’t agree more, you mean you completely agree, as instanced below:
Many people said Nelson Mandela loved the South African citizenry, and I couldn’t agree more.
In the same vein, “I couldn’t love you more” means “I love you completely.”
In this category, too, is the word “terrific”. Although it sounds negative in/within many persons’ hearing (not, “to many persons’ hearing”!), it generates two opposite meanings. On the one hand, to be terrific is to be very bad or fit to excite fear, as in:
It was such a terrific thunderstorm.
On the other hand, the word can also be deployed to mention something very good or enjoyable:
My sister looks absolutely terrific tonight.
Moreover, the word is used to emphasise a great amount or degree of something:
The book will have a terrific effect on you if you read it.
If one relies on form to decipher meaning, there is the tendency to think that a stupendous person is a very stupid person. While to be stupid means to exhibit a considerable lack of intelligence or common sense, a stupendous thing is surprisingly impressive or large, as in:
Her father was a man of stupendous stamina and energy.
He spent a stupendous amount of money on the project.
In that connection, the readership should keep in mind that a “troubleshooter” should not be mistaken for a “troublemaker”. While the former proffers solutions to problems, the latter causes trouble, as in:
My boss has given the troubleshooter a well-deserved pay rise while all the troublemakers were relieved of their duties.
With that being said, have you ever felt slighted or denigrated because someone considered you “invaluable”? I presume you took offence because you have always known that the use of the prefix “in-” with a base word indicates the opposite of the base word, as in the instance of “correct” and “incorrect”. Nevertheless, that is not the case with “invaluable” because the word means “extremely valuable”.
Read also: Greetings and courtesy in English
Hence, “valuable” and “invaluable” are synonyms, not antonyms! Going forward, therefore, it behoves you not to confuse “invaluable” with “valueless” or “worthless”. Similarly, “flammable/inflammable” and “habitable/inhabitable” are synonymous, not antonymous, pairs!
Moving on, how will you react if, in the event of preparing for an interview, someone says, “break a leg!”? Figuratively speaking, “break a leg!” is used to wish somebody good luck. So, when anticipating a positive development and someone uses the idiomatic expression, s/he is not instructing you to literally break your leg!
Last but not least, an expression can contain a positive word and convey a negative meaning. For instance, something is funny when it is humorous or causes laughter. Yet, to feel funny is to feel slightly ill, as in:
I have been feeling a bit funny all day, and that’s not even funny at all.
I will conclude this piece by emphasising that the form of a word is not always a determinant of the meaning it conveys in an expression. Thus, to arrive at the exact meaning of an expression, one must look beyond the preconceived meaning of any particular word in such an expression.
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
