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Antonym of thirsty | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
 Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6895 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 17 of 26 25 February 2010 at 9:56pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
That was exactly my point. Since there are so many other things that can be quenched it doesn't seem obvious that the thirst-quenching meaning would come across, unless thirst was mentioned as well. But apparently it can, then, provided the context is clear enough. Thanks for setting that straight. In the construction "quench your thirst" or "my thirst is quenched" the word "quenched" is of course not being used as the opposite of "thirsty". 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| JW Hexaglot Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/egw Joined 6123 days ago 1802 posts - 2011 votes 22 sounds Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Ancient Greek, French, Biblical Hebrew Studies: Luxembourgish, Dutch, Greek, Italian | Message 18 of 26 26 February 2010 at 1:19am | IP Logged | ||||||||
I see your point. Just to clarify: If someone asked me after a meal: Are you still hungry? I would answer, no, I'm full. Thus full is the antonym of hungry. If I were asked after drinking a glass of water: Are you still thirsty? I would answer, no, I'm not (thirsty anymore). But I could also answer, No, I'm quenched. But that would sound a bit odd, in a pretentious way. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6012 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 19 of 26 26 February 2010 at 12:18pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
No, as your initial reaction says, we "slake our thirst" or "quench our thirst", but both these terms are falling out of use because "drinking something" generally covers this. "My thirst is slaked/quenched" is so rare I can't remember ever having heard it. However, even if you could say "*I am slaked", it would still be difficult to justify "slaked" as an antonym to "thirsty", as it would refer to how you are immediately after drinking. The same argument says that "full" is not an antonym of "hungry". Consider "ill". If I get an infection, "I am ill". When I take a course of antibiotics "I am cured". Three months, three years or three decades later, the infection hasn't come back -- you are in the opposite state from "ill", but you wouldn't still be saying "I am cured", so cured isn't the antonym of ill. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Derian Triglot Senior Member PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5309 days ago 227 posts - 464 votes Speaks: Polish*, English, German Studies: Spanish, Russian, Czech, French, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 20 of 26 17 May 2010 at 1:32pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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But what would the antonym of 'thirsty' mean exactly in the first place?
I would also challenge the assumption that 'full' in English is the antonym of 'hungry'. Thirst - is the craving for fluids, resulting in the basic instinct of animals to drink. Hunger - analogically, is having a desire, craving, or need for food. Now, let's think of a definition of 'unhungry'/'unthirsty'. Because I see a fundamental distinction that should be addressed here. It is the same as with 'liking' something. If I don't like something, does it mean that I dislike it?! Of course not. Not liking something and disliking something are two different things. Having said that: If I'm hungry, I have the need for food. But when I'm full, I not only don't have the need to eat, but it also implies that I have just eaten (=my stomach is full) thus I have a strong desire not to eat, even if I was offered food. Whereas the antonym for being hungry (having the need for food), should simply express not having that need. So being unhungry would mean you don't have the need for food, without any implications about whether you would reject a food offer or not. Your thoughts? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6895 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 21 of 26 17 May 2010 at 3:47pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I see it as there being a neutral state, in between hungry and full, where you are not especially craving food, but might be enticed to have some if it was offered to you, especially if it was tasty.
Seen from this perspective hungry and full would be approximately at the same distance from neutral, in opposite directions, so it would seem logical to consider them opposites. Edited by Hencke on 17 May 2010 at 3:48pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Derian Triglot Senior Member PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5309 days ago 227 posts - 464 votes Speaks: Polish*, English, German Studies: Spanish, Russian, Czech, French, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 22 of 26 17 May 2010 at 5:10pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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You're right, Hencke.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Metamucil Groupie United States Joined 5876 days ago 43 posts - 51 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 23 of 26 31 May 2010 at 9:12pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
in German they use the word "satt" to mean full from eating 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| chirel Triglot Senior Member Finland Joined 5311 days ago 125 posts - 159 votes Speaks: Finnish*, English, Swedish Studies: French | Message 24 of 26 31 May 2010 at 9:34pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Maybe there hasn't been a need for an antonym for thirst because it comes back so soon after you have quenched
it. Humans need water much more often than food and can stand hunger much longer than thirst. So maybe there's really never a moment when you are truly "unthirsty". 1 person has voted this message useful |
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