Our Wacky Language

When we say something is "for sale" or "for loan" that means pretty much the same thing.

However when we say something is "on sale" that's completely different from something being "on loan."

"Make up" and "make over" are related, but "take up" and "take over" are not.

Being "screwed up" is not the opposite of being "screwed down."

Being "passed up" and being "passed over" mean essentially the same thing, but being "tossed up" and "tossed over" do not.

"Throwing up" is not the opposite of "throwing down."

You're right about the wackiness of the English language. Even prefixes can have different effects on the root word. Inaccurate is the opposite of accurate, but inflammable means the same as flammable. Why do they do this to us? And who are they?

Funny story about an idiot and a word.

I was 19 and on a detachment to run close air support training at Fallon, Nevada. Parked next to the strip was a tanker truck with the words "POTABLE WATER" painted in large letters. Never having run into the word potable before, I laughed at the idiots who left the "R" out of the word PORTABLE. But, in my defense, it was a tanker truck so it was portable water.

I beat my dog pretty regularly -- but she's not very good at Scrabble.