Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we’re saving the English language sixty seconds at a time! I’m Lauren Smyth, and I’m an economics major. Which has nothing to do with grammar, but does bring up the topic of government sanctions. Which, in turn, brings us to contranyms.
Contranyms are words that mean two opposite things. A particularly annoying near-contranym is “original,” which can either mean “new and fresh” or “old.” But a more definitionally strict contranym is sanction, which can imply both government support—we sanction the new treaty—or government disapproval—we sanction China. Context is the only way to tell the difference.
The interesting thing about contranyms is that, first of all, there aren’t many true contranyms. Second, they tend to be buzzwords that have lost their original meanings through overuse. This isn’t always true, and there are certainly contranyms that are obvious enough to be unproblematic. But, when in doubt, always opt for terms with clear meanings, and make sure you know exactly what you’re writing.
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