Another thing I failed to cite when writing about antonyms. In my 2003
book I make the case that dog can be considered the opposite of cat,
and here's Baldrick defining dog as 'not a cat'.
When playing Taboo another player once said “opposite of dog” as a clue to part of a word, and the guessing player immediately and correctly said “cat” — much quicker than I could finish my thought of ‘that doesn't make sense: “dog” doesn't have opposite; any number of animals could be just as valid an answer, so it's absurd to claim “dog” has any opposite’.
But of course if I'd been the guesser, ‘cat’ would've been my first guess, too — which rather disproves my original thought.
Logically, ‘dog’ doesn't have an opposite. But in practice, everybody knows what it is.
When playing Taboo another player once said “opposite of dog” as a clue to part of a word, and the guessing player immediately and correctly said “cat” — much quicker than I could finish my thought of ‘that doesn't make sense: “dog” doesn't have opposite; any number of animals could be just as valid an answer, so it's absurd to claim “dog” has any opposite’.
ReplyDeleteBut of course if I'd been the guesser, ‘cat’ would've been my first guess, too — which rather disproves my original thought.
Logically, ‘dog’ doesn't have an opposite. But in practice, everybody knows what it is.