After yesterday’s hiccup with having no contronyms for K, I was happy to have several to choose from for the letter L. I decided to go with left, but as I was poking around in several dictionaries, I realized that the present tense of left (leave) is also a contronym, even though only the past tense version is on any of the lists. I figured we might as well go for the twofer and feature both left and leave.

 

Left/Leave – to go out or away from; depart

 

~ or ~

 

Left/Leave – to remain; stay in the same position

 

Please don’t leave me behind. I will be very sad.

 

Poor mama dogs have to watch their babies leave, never to be seen again.

 

Frank left in a huff at my refusal to cook dinner, but he left his wallet behind. I ordered pizza.

 

Diana is overwhelmed with emotion when she comes home after a long day to a surprise birthday party. She’s touched by her friends’ thoughtfulness, but she really wanted to soak in a hot bath and go to bed. The party rages for hours. Now, of all the revelers, only Trevor’s left.

 

So, does Diana need to call the cops on her own party to get all of her overzealous friends (except for Trevor who already went home) to leave? Or has everyone else gone home, leaving her to receive an unexpected birthday gift from Trevor? With a contronym involved, a simple story gets an ambiguous ending. 

 

After yesterday’s hiccup with having no contronyms for K, I was happy to have several to choose from for the letter L. I decided to go with left, but as I was poking around in several dictionaries, I realized that the present tense of left (leave) is also a contronym, even though only the past tense version is on any of the lists. I figured we might as well go for the twofer and feature both left and leave.

 

Left/Leave – to go out or away from; depart

 

~ or ~

 

Left/Leave – to remain; stay in the same position

 

Please don’t leave me behind. I will be very sad.

 

Poor mama dogs have to watch their babies leave, never to be seen again.

 

Frank left in a huff at my refusal to cook dinner, but he left his wallet behind. I ordered pizza.

 

Diana is overwhelmed with emotion when she comes home after a long day to a surprise birthday party. She’s touched by her friends’ thoughtfulness, but she really wanted to soak in a hot bath and go to bed. The party rages for hours. Now, of all the revelers, only Trevor’s left.

 

So, does Diana need to call the cops on her own party to get all of her overzealous friends (except for Trevor who already went home) to leave? Or has everyone else gone home, leaving her to receive an unexpected birthday gift from Trevor? With a contronym involved, a simple story gets an ambiguous ending.