Autoantonyms

I like to have fun with words and occasionally ponder autoantonyms (words that are the opposite of themselves) and the peculiar ways they could be used. Some of my favorites are words like clip (to fasten together OR to cut apart), custom (normal OR unique), fast (fixed in place OR moving quickly), and oversight (to examine, watch over OR to overloook).

This past week, Zoe invented an all new autoantonym. When I give her something she likes, or tell her some good news, she replies, "Thanks Mom! You rock!" (meaning "you're great!")

While at Grandma's, Zoe had lots of chances to tell everyone "You Rock!" to which Grandma replied, "Thank you Zoe, you rock, too!" However, apparently the opposite meaning came into play, so Zoe got extremely offended by this response at shot back, "Hey! Don't say that! Be nice!"

At times she also let people know they were fired. "You're fired and YOU'RE fired and YOU'RE fired, but my MOM is nice."

Unsure of what had transpired, we asked, "Zoe, what does it mean if we're fired?"

To which she responded, "It means you're not cancelled."