Typonyms: Accidental Antonyms

“Typonym” is defined elsewhere as “sets of words that sound and mean the same but are spelled differently due to typographical error” but I disagree with that. I hereby declare that ‘typonym’ means “words that are opposites but have only one letter different, due to typographical error.” They are noteworthy because of how much trouble they can cause in the brave new world of text messaging, where haste and autocorrect (sic, sick) are routine and often result in alarming accidents.

It is because of typonyms that you must re-proofread every text message in full before you tap Send… even if you only changed one little thing.

Typonyms

• Defund/defend
  I’d be happy to see them defund/defend the Three Stooges.
• Eject/elect
  We should eject/elect them forever.
• Glutted/gutted
  The supply of kumquats — sadly, the funniest fruit — was glutted/gutted by the honeybee disease.
• Leading/leaving
  They were leading/leaving the project.
• Not/now
  I’m not/now going to cause problems.
• Paused/passed
  They passed/paused the legislation.
• Root/riot
  I’d root/riot if that happened.
• Running/ruining
  They’re doing a good job of running/ruining our ecosystem
• Sang/sank
  My heart sang/sank.
• Step/stop
  It’s critical that we make a stop.
• Undermine/underline
  I’d like to undermine/underline this effort.

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Typonyms, antonyms, texting, autocorrect, spellcheck, embarrassing typos, typographical errors