0
Renan torres-rivero Posted 16 years ago
Vocabulary
"Ravel" or "Unravel"?
Dear native teachers,
One afternoon, while checking a project, one of the reviewers hollered out, "Does anyone know what ravel means?" As usual, someone had an opinion and replied, "to separate or disentangle, to take apart or undo."
That got everyone's attention, and the question arose, "Isn't that the meaning of unravel? Isn't ravel different than unravel?" After 10 minutes of debate and discussion, we resorted to looking it up in Webster's dictionary. And guess what we found out? That "ravel" means "to unravel"!!! Of course, that caused an uproar!
We had to lookup the prefix "un-" which meant what everyone thought it meant, a prefix meaning "not."
And, how come the same word (to wit "ravel") can have, not just different meanings, but totally opposite!
1.- The knitter ravels the threads.
2.- I can't follow your story. It's totally ravelled.
I'll appreciate your savvy comments.
Cheers,
RENAN
One afternoon, while checking a project, one of the reviewers hollered out, "Does anyone know what ravel means?" As usual, someone had an opinion and replied, "to separate or disentangle, to take apart or undo."
That got everyone's attention, and the question arose, "Isn't that the meaning of unravel? Isn't ravel different than unravel?" After 10 minutes of debate and discussion, we resorted to looking it up in Webster's dictionary. And guess what we found out? That "ravel" means "to unravel"!!! Of course, that caused an uproar!
We had to lookup the prefix "un-" which meant what everyone thought it meant, a prefix meaning "not."
And, how come the same word (to wit "ravel") can have, not just different meanings, but totally opposite!
1.- The knitter ravels the threads.
2.- I can't follow your story. It's totally ravelled.
I'll appreciate your savvy comments.
Cheers,
RENAN
Top answer
I fear this is just one of the idiosyncrasies o f the English language, which is what makes it so fascinating.
- I fear this is just one of the idiosyncrasies o f the English language, which is what makes it so fascinating.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
19 Answers
0
I fear this is just one of the idiosyncrasies of the English language, which is what makes it so fascinating.
00
Fascinating? I don't think so!
It's confusing, inconsistent and weird!
It's confusing, inconsistent and weird!
00
I'm sure it must be very frustrating when trying to learn the language. Many things about English are inconsistent and confusing, not least among them the irregular pronunciation of vowel sounds. But, the richness of the language, with its treasure trove of nuanced words to capture meanings, makes it endlessly fascinating to me.
00
If ravel/unravel bothers you, how do you like flammable/inflammable?
00
Flammable and inflammable are quite right for me. They are synonyns. And their opposite is non-flammable or non-inflammable.
But, this not the case of "ravel" which has opposite meanings:
1 to tangle
2 to disentangle.
I wonder how this was originated.
Are there other words similiar to this?
But, this not the case of "ravel" which has opposite meanings:
1 to tangle
2 to disentangle.
I wonder how this was originated.
Are there other words similiar to this?
00
I'm sure there are, although I can't think of any off the top of my head right now. (Now, there is a good English idiom for you--off the top of my head.)
But, there are words that contain opposing meanings, such as:
dust (can mean as a noun the substance dust, and as a verb, to get rid of that substance)
skin (as a verb means to remove the outer covering and as a noun i
But, there are words that contain opposing meanings, such as:
dust (can mean as a noun the substance dust, and as a verb, to get rid of that substance)
skin (as a verb means to remove the outer covering and as a noun i
00
Don't have any problems with the pronunciation.
And, gosh! you are an English Language lover!
But words like ravel having opposite meanings, that's real odd!
Are there any other words in English like this?
Cheers!
And, gosh! you are an English Language lover!
But words like ravel having opposite meanings, that's real odd!
Are there any other words in English like this?
Cheers!
00
Actually "dust" can mean to remove dust (from furniture) or to sprinkle "dust" on something -- like "dust the top of the cake with sugar."
00
Very true! So, it has at least three meanings, with two opposing ones when used as a verb. See why English is so much fun, but, I'm sure, very frustrating for non native speakers to learn.
00
Well, you are wrong. At least, not in my case.
It's not frustration, my friend.
As I told you, these inconsistencies, which now I see are much common in English, do not play in favor of the language; however, this one about "ravel" and "unravel" is the oddest.
You will indeed feel frustrated if trying to learn Spanish grammar, not because of any inconsistency but the m
It's not frustration, my friend.
As I told you, these inconsistencies, which now I see are much common in English, do not play in favor of the language; however, this one about "ravel" and "unravel" is the oddest.
You will indeed feel frustrated if trying to learn Spanish grammar, not because of any inconsistency but the m
0
Related Questions