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Jul 08Antimeria, explained.
First, a word about the title. Or several, rather boring words (Definitely off to a great start).
“Antimeria” (sometimes incorrectly spelled “anthimeria”) is the use of one word as a different part of speech than normal. Generally, this takes the form of using nouns as verbs–for instance, those who “summer” in “the Hamptons” (who are often “jackasses”).
From Languagehat:
combine anti- ["instead of"] and mereia ["a part"], what you’ll get is “antimereia” or (if you want to Latinize it) “antimeria.”
The subtitle comes from one of my favorite Calvin & Hobbes strips, which, in a beautiful burst of synchronicity, is also handily linked from the LH post.
So enjoy, and let me know your favorite instances of antimeria–I’ll probably need some new subtitles soon (don’t worry, I’ll credit you).