this helped for me http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060706211808AAKpYqj

by Anonymous 11 years ago

If you're not tall then you're average, which is in between two extremes. So yes, tall and short are opposites. 'Not tall' and 'not short' are just middle grounds. On a different note, i feel like i've had this conversation before. It's a strange feeling of deja vu.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Picture a Venn diagram with a big circle representing all people. Inside this circle is a smaller circle that represents all tall people. The rest of the area inside the big circle, but outside the smaller one, represents all non-tall people. Some of those non-tall people are short, but not all of them.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Yeah but those normal people are normal, not opposite. The opposite of an extreme isn't the middle ground, it's the opposite end of the spectrum.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I'm talking about set theory. Suppose the following 3 sets: Set A contains {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9} Set B contains {8,9} Set C contains {1,2} I'm saying the opposite of being in set B is *not* being in set B. The opposite of set B is not set C.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

The opposite of pain isn't pleasure, the opposite of pain is no feeling. The opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. The opposite of hard isn't soft. The opposite of light isn't dark.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I would say the opposite of pain is no pain. No pain includes both pleasure and no feeling.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

No feeling is in the middle of the spectrum, that isn't what opposites are.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

i feel like everyone who disagrees didn't get it :P

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I agreed to it because of that link from yahoo answers but could you explain why you agree? it might be for different reasons

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I understood it to be "the opposite of tall is 'not short.' the opposite of tall is 'not tall.'"

by Anonymous 11 years ago

The opposite of tall isn't normal height, the opposite of tall isn't tall, the opposite of big is small. Opposites are the other end of the spectrum, not anything that isn't the word you're trying to find an opposite to.

by Anonymous 11 years ago