WORD OF THE WEEK: Antithesis

Summary: Today's word is antithesis, which comes from the Greek language and means "opposite." Keep following Beyond Talk to learn more antitheses to poor communication! E-mail me at Kealah@KiKiProductionsInc.com with your personal communications coaching requests (subject: Beyond Talk).

If someone vituperates you, your brain can choose between two basic goals: Fight or flight. If you choose "flight," you want to escape. However, if you pick "fight," your new goal (if you follow the advice in last week's posts) becomes turning the verbal attacker on his or her tail, making an ally out of an enemy.

An ally is the antithesis of an enemy. And vice versa.

More specifically, an antithesis (an - TI - tha - SIS) is an opposite, a contrast or a parallel. The word comes from the Greek antitithenai, "to set before," or oppose. It entered the English language in the early 1500s.

In this week's forthcoming posts, we'll continue to look at the antitheses (notice the plural) of verbal abuse, emotional imbalance, and inner turmoil; in other words, the antithesis of poor communication.

Are you learning what you want to learn at Beyond Talk? Share questions you may have about communication by commenting here or e-mailing me at Kealah@KiKiProductionsInc.com and placing "Beyond Talk" in the subject line.


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