Opposite words

[curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by qwertyuiop

Actually strength-weakness are derived from strong-weak, which are adjectives.

And no, woman is not the opposite of man; you can say they are complementary notions, but not opposites. We are discussing language problems here, not philosophy; and from this point of view, the opposite of young man is old man.

By your thinking then, male is not opposite to female?

[Tdol]

Originally Posted by mykwyner

To me, these are not so simple. Is the opposite of old man young man or is it old woman, or young woman?

Or baby? Or neonate?

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by qwertyuiop

Actually strength-weakness are derived from strong-weak, which are adjectives.

And no, woman is not the opposite of man; you can say they are complementary notions, but not opposites. We are discussing language problems here, not philosophy; and from this point of view, the opposite of young man is old man.

Weakness obviously comes from "weak", but I'm not so sure that strength comes from strong.

[WordWise]

Originally Posted by qwertyuiop

Actually strength-weakness are derived from strong-weak, which are adjectives.

And no, woman is not the opposite of man; you can say they are complementary notions, but not opposites. We are discussing language problems here, not philosophy; and from this point of view, the opposite of young man is old man.

In Arabian terms the opposite of "Woman" is "Property Owner" but in English, Man and Woman are opposites.

Opposite in this sense is not negative. Just like opposing forces, they create a balance.

The opposite of a "King" is a "Peasant"
The opposite of "Safe" is "Endangered"
The opposite of "Ready" is "Unprepared"

These are very simple concepts. They balance, they neutralize, they are opposites.

Philosophy comes in when we are upset that a man and a woman are opposites; but without both, neither is complete.

Also, don't confuse the man/woman opposition with other terms like dominate, intelligent, covered, property. These have no place in relation to people, although political misuse has happened throughout history and continues, big-time today.

[Tdol]

Originally Posted by WordWise

The opposite of a "King" is a "Peasant"

How does this work with contemporary monarchies? I also feel that the opposite would have to be more inclusive- everybody else and not just those at the lower end of the hierarchy.

[WordWise]

Originally Posted by Tdol

How does this work with contemporary monarchies? I also feel that the opposite would have to be more inclusive- everybody else and not just those at the lower end of the hierarchy.

The opposite is just the equal reverse; Hot is to Cold, not Hot is to Warm.
So we don't have to include everyone 'not the king.'

But, there are various uses for one word which include several opposite words.
Hot vs Ugly
Hot vs Safe

so

King vs Homeless
King vs Slave
King vs Peasant

In a deck of cards, the King is the opposite of the 3 card. The ace is opposite of the 2 card, etc..

As to contemporary monarchies, common usage doesn't negate the correctness of the concept. A homeless person is a modern day peasant.

One problem in arguing the concept of correctness is the robust variety in the beauty of language. If we only accept one version to be correct, then it puts the rest as meaningless. They are not meaningless; they are nuance. A term to research for this thread is disambiguation.