A Dictionary of Cont..

answer 34
course an anonymous work can be anomalous.
The Tale of a Tub was.
answer; reply; rejoinder; response; retort; riposte.
Answer and reply, the everyday words, are
almost synonymous. A rejoinder is an answer
to a reply and since tempers are likely to rise
when answers begin to be bandied there is in
rejoinder often the suggestion of incisiveness.
Retort has a definite connotation of retaliation.
It is cutting, severe, witty, a definite counter
to a statement or argument.
A riposte is a quick thrust in fencing, given
after parrying a lunge, and its application to
a maneuver in conversation frankly acknowledges
the encounter to be a duel. However,
the fact that it is not an English word, the fact
that it is drawn from a sport (for Englishspeaking
people have not taken dueling seriously
for more than a hundred years), and
perhaps the fact that most people do not think
of conversation as a contest, gives a riposte
the meaning of a studiedly clever but not very
crushing retort. Repartee, also a term from
fencing, implies an even lighter answer, though
a witty one.
antagonist; opponent; adversary. An opponent is
one who opposes, who takes the opposite side,
usually in a controversy or a debate (My distinguished
opponent, whom I regret to see
among his present associates . . .). An antagonist,
in the strict sense, is one who opposes
in a physical struggle (He that wrestles with
us . . . our antagonist . . .). It is not always
restricted to its strict sense but in extension it
carries with it the suggestion of opposition in
a hostile spirit, often in a particular contest or
struggle (But at lust in Johnson, Macpherson
found a formidable antagonist). The desire of
journalists to heighten the drama of everyday
events and, especially, to add to the tension
and resentment of every disagreement has led
to the abuse of antagonist. It is too often used
as a mere synonym for opponent. See also
protagonist.
Adversary suggests an enemy who fights
determinedly and continuously and relentlessly
(Satan, adversary of God and man).
antagonize; oppose. Though to antagonize can
mean to oppose (The Democrats are resolved
to antagonize this and all other bills . . .),
this meaning is now rare and it has come,
particularly in America, to mean to cause to
oppose, to arouse hostility in (The passage of
the bill is certain to antagonize the labor
unions). It is something more, too. Those who
are antagonized are not only aroused to opposition
but are made irritable and resentful. To
be so affected is, perhaps, in all but the most
philosophic, an inescapable concomitant of
being opposed and this suggestion in the word
illustrates nicely the manner in which words
acquire added shades of meaning.
ante-; anti-. Ante- means before, either in place
or time. An antechamber is a small room that
comes before a large one. Antediluvian times
were times before the Flood and antebellum
means before the war. (In American usage
antebellum means almost exclusively the decades
immediately preceding the Civil War and,
for some reason, is applied chiefly to the
South.)
Anti- means opposed to. An antitoxin opposes
the effect of a toxin or poison. An
anticlimax opposes the effect of a climax.
Anticipate is an exception. Here anti- equals
ante-. It is simply an established variant in
spelling.
antecedent. When used as a grammatical term
antecedent means the word or group of words
referred to by a pronoun. It does not necessarily
come before the pronoun and it may
not be mentioned at all. For example, leaf is
the antecedent of its in the one red leaf, the
last of its clan. But mastiff is the antecedent
of her in outside her kennel the mastifl old
lay fast asleep, and the antecedent of what in
what can ail the mastiff bitch? is unknown.
Under some circumstances certain pronouns
cannot be used without an antecedent which
actually precedes them. These words are said
to “carry back” or to be “anaphoric.” For example,
them, some, any, are anaphoric when
they do not refer to human beings. Anaphoric
pronouns must be handled carefully. In a carelessly
constructed sentence they sometimes pick
up an antecedent that was not intended. In
the figure of speech he put his foot in it, the
pronoun it has a general or indefinite reference.
But in everytime he opens his mouth he
puts his foot in it, the it suddenly becomes
anaphoric and carries back to mouth.
A pronoun is said to agree with its antecedent
in number. That is, the pronoun should
be singular if the antecedent is singular and
plural if the antecedent is plural. In English,
the number of the pronoun depends on the
meaning of the antecedent more than on its
strict grammatical form. See indefinite pronouns
and agreement: verbs.
antelope. The plural is antelopes or antelope.
antenna. The plural is antennas or antennae. In
speaking of radios, antennas is the only plural
form used. In speaking of insects, either form
may be used but antennae is generally preferred.
antepenult. The antepenult (a shortened form of
antepenultima) is the last syllable but two in
a word, as syl in monosyllable. See penult.
anticipate; expect; hope; await. Anticipate, in its
strictest sense, meant to seize or take possession
of beforehand. (The Oxford English Dictionary
quotes, under the date of 1623, a soldier who
feared that his enemy might anticipate the tops
of the mountains and hence have him at a
disadvantage.) From this sense it was a natural
development to conceive of emotions, whether
pleasant or unpleasant, being experienced
before the event, so that one could, in anticipation,
foretaste experiences (Some lives do
actually anticipate the happiness of heaven).
To expect means to believe that something
will occur. The greatness of Nelson’s famous