In the second of my series of blogs on how crazy the English language is, I thought I’d share some words which have two meanings.

Some of these meanings are just two completely different things, but sometimes the meanings are actually opposite to each other. Have a look at these examples:

Left 

Where’s John? He’s left (departed)

At the end of the evening there were only three people left (remaining)

With  England fought with France against Germany in World War One (together)

England last fought with France between 1792-1815 (against)

Critical 

It’s critical that you hand in your coursework before Friday (important)

My mum’s very critical of my choice of university (opposed to)

Can 

Baked Beans are usually canned (preserved in a tin can)

The boss canned half of the staff (sacked, or got rid of)

Cool

This website is so cool! (positive – meaning fashionable, exciting or trendy)

My proposal got a really cool reception from my boss (negative – meaning not hot, not very enthusiastic)