Opposites that aren't

(Cross-posted to linguaphiles and my journal.)

A lot of people, when hearing a word, can immediately name its opposite (e.g. black—white).

But what I find interesting is that there are a number of words that are so closely related in the minds of many people that they consider them "opposites" as well. For example, ask a child what the "opposite" of "dog" is, and chances are, they'll say "cat". Similarly, the "opposite" of "salt" is often "pepper" (though it can be "sugar" as well).

(Related anecdote: someone I know told me once they literally thought salt and sugar were opposites, so when they had used too much salt in a recipe, they put in an equal amount of sugar to "cancel the salt out". The food was still ruined.)

Pauline epistles: fan fiction

An interesting (I thought) comparison from a comment on an entry in mock_the_stupid:

I've always seen Paul's stuff in the same light as fanfic. As in; if the gospels are canon, Acts is the spin-off series and the Letters are fan fiction.

The context was a discussion on whether you're going to hell if you have long hair (as a guy) or short hair (as a woman), and on how much weight Paul's words carry.

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Incidentally, I have succumbed to practicality and am now wearing my hair in a pony-tail. I used to keep it open, or use hairgrips/bobby pins which I tried to keep fairly unobtrusive, but it kept falling in my face, and this keeps it out.

Also Stella says she thinks it looks better in a pony-tail than open.

I used to think it was a pretty unimaginative hairstyle since nearly all men with long hair seem to wear it in a pony-tail, while women have a much larger variety of hair styles. But eh.

Hmm... *glances at userpic* I wonder whether I should change that avatar then since the long hair isn't hanging down the sides any more.