Friday, September 07, 2007

The "un" crowd

We all know that putting "un" in front of a word usually makes it mean the opposite of the original word. Like cool vs uncool. But, have you ever noticed all the words out there that begin with "un" which are underutilized in the naked form, would never be used on the their own at all, or don't really mean the opposite of the "un" word. Here are some of the examples I came up with. While most of the naked words do mean close to what one would expect, you almost never run across them in normal conversation or (non-Victorian) literature.

Marshall gave the press unfettered access to his staff. The church gave the media only fettered access to alter boys.
Tiffany's unbridled passion for cheesecake led to the broadening of her bottom. Chuck's bridled attraction for Tiffany led him to Amber's door.
Her love for him was unrequited, while his loathing of her sister was requited.
Ryan's unconscionable treatment of his secretary led to her law suit against the company. Theresa's conscionable treatment of her fellow human led to her beautification.
Chef Bob's unmitigated loathing for maple syrup led to the removal of all batter-based products from the menu. His mitigated appreciation for the wholesomeness of beets led to their being featured in each day's chef's choice item.
The story was an unflinching look at the seedier side of candy consumption. The report was a flinching view of clerical pedophilia.
Roderick's behavior put him in an untenable position with his wife. Mattie's saint-like behavior provided her with a tenable position going into the divorce.
His cruelty was unmatched, while her kindness was easily matched.
In the end, his lies undid him. So, like would the truth do him?
She was such an unassuming person, while her sister was such an assuming person.
The rain from the hurricane was unrelenting. The media's relenting coverage of JFK's extramarital activities would have been welcomed by the Clinton administration.

Can you think of others? Maybe even better one's where the 'un' word is more comfortable to you than it's naked counterpart? After all, most of us are more comfortable with the clothed over the unclothed.

2 comments:

briwei said...

I do love wordplay. And this is a good list. It would be unbecoming of me to be jealous of it. ;-)

Kitten Herder said...

Excellent addition!