I'm a black dude, so if someone is said to have fair skin and I do not, does that mean I have unfair skin?
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light – dark
light – heavy
right – left
right – wrong
correct – incorrect
fair – dark
fair – unfair
just – unjust
Even though a word’s opposite meaning is determined by the context, I have often wondered whether our language has evolved in a way that reflects racial prejudices. If this is so, does it unconsciously perpetuate them? If we had no prejudices, would these usages become obsolete?
The colors red and yellow don’t carry the same connotations, but golden often refers to something mystical and appealing.
Does yang versus yin refect the deep dislike of the feminine in Chinese culture? The yin partner in any pair of opposites far more often has a negative tone. But in the Tao Te Ching each pairing is a neutral necessity within a whole which is greater that the sum of its parts. Does this mean that the Tao seeks to reconcile something ill at ease within the language and culture of China?
Do we need to create a better philosophy for language and healing in English?
1. The bandage was wound around the wound.
2. The farm was used to produce produce.
3. The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4. We must polish the Polish furniture.
5. He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7. Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10. I did not object to the object.
11. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13. They were too close to the door to close it.
14. The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18. After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19. Upon seeing the tear in the painting, I shed a tear.
20. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH 