Playing with words: IN- or OUT-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is fun to play with pairs of words that usually have opposite prefixes, like in- and out-. They could be the subject for a humorous Toastmasters speech.

 

We can easily come up with a half-dozen pairs like income/outcome along with five obvious opposites: infield/outfield, input/output, inset/outset, inside/outside and inward/outward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we also can come up with another half-dozen pairs that are ‘missing out’: incite/outcite, include/outclude, infatuate/outfatuate, influence/outfluence, inhibit/outhibit, and invent/outvent. All of them are shown above in a pair of tables.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But, as is shown above, the in- prefix also can be used to negate other words, like active/inactive, capable/incapable, correct/incorrect, credible/incredible, decent/indecent, and definite/indefinite.

 

On January 8, 2022 I blogged about Playing with words that have prefixes of UP- or DOWN- and on January 12, 2022 I blogged about Playing with words that have prefixes of FORE – or AFTER-. And on April 20, 2018 I blogged about Playing with words: PRO or CON? and on February 12, 2021 I blogged about Playing with words: PRE- or POST-.