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Subject: Is there a word for the deliberate use of antonyms?
Written By: K1chyd on 08/13/10 at 11:03 pm
Hallo Amiright! The machine intelligence of Google can't help me with this one, so I'm turning to the human intelligence of this place instead: Is there a word for the deliberate use of antonyms? Not antonyms per se, but the deliberate use of them.
Like when a tall man is called Shorty. Like when a well known criminal is called Honest Bob (or whatever his real name is). Like when lady Gaga's fashion sense is called modest. Etc.
I'm not talking about oxymorons, I'm looking for a word (if one exists) for the deliberate use of antonyms.
// Peter Andersson
Subject: Re: Is there a word for the deliberate use of antonyms?
Written By: jreuben on 08/14/10 at 10:57 am
My gut reaction was oxymoron or ironic...
Subject: Re: Is there a word for the deliberate use of antonyms?
Written By: K1chyd on 08/15/10 at 5:12 am
According to this wikipedia page "double entendres" applies to more than second meaning sexual innuendos, I guess that phrase is good enough here then.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_entendre
Subject: Re: Is there a word for the deliberate use of antonyms?
Written By: karen on 08/17/10 at 8:01 am
According to this wikipedia page "double entendres" applies to more than second meaning sexual innuendos, I guess that phrase is good enough here then.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_entendre
Personally I'd be wary of using the phrase because to most people it only means sexual innuendos, so your meaning might not be clear.
Subject: Re: Is there a word for the deliberate use of antonyms?
Written By: philbo on 08/25/10 at 7:25 am
Like when a tall man is called Shorty. Like when a well known criminal is called Honest Bob (or whatever his real name is). Like when lady Gaga's fashion sense is called modest. Etc.
..that's called "life" - you always find someone called "Tiny" isn't.. someone called "Hope" will commit suicide and never under any circumstances call your daughter "Chastity"
But seriously, depending on how you're using it, the sort of word you're looking for might be "bathos"
n. a ludicrous descent from the exalted or lofty to the commonplace; anticlimax.
A "misnomer" is more appropriate a term than "double entendre", IMHO, but it doesn't give the same sort of impression of being opposite; "antithesis"/"antithetical" or "antiphrasis" might be closer.