I Was Left Because Everbody Else Already Left

Are you confused yet? In the title, the first "left" means "to remain" while the second "left" means "to have gone". The word "left" seems to contradict itself. How could a word mean "to remain" and "to have gone" at the same time? Interestingly enough, there are a lot more words that contradict their own meaning. These words are called antagonyms, also known as contronyms or auto-antonyms.

Here are some examples:
1. Fast: Moving rapidly (running fast) vs. Unable to move (stuck fast to the ground)

2. Cut: Get in (cut in) vs. Get out (cut class)

3. Overlook: To pay attention to (overlook a project) vs. To ignore (overlook an error)

4. Resign: To quit a contract vs. To sign a contract again [hyphenated as re-sign]

PS. This reminds me of an embarrassing moment. When I was a kid, a lot of people wanted Former President Erap to resign. At that time, I thought they liked Erap, and wanted Erap to sign the contract again. I felt stupid when I learned otherwise. Why does "resign" mean "to quit of a contract" anyway? It makes little sense! Sigh...

Anyway, I hope you found the topic fun. You can find a list of antagonyms here:

http://www.english-for-students.com/Antagonyms.html