Aspersion Diversion

originally posted: 03/18/02

Brought to you by Amy Nielsen.

aspersion \uh-SPUR-zhuhn; -shuhn\, noun: 1. A damaging or derogatory remark; slander. 2. The act of defaming or slandering. 3. A sprinkling with water, especially in religious ceremonies.

Amy calls our attention to definition #3. She always thought, as I did, that the sprinkling of water in a religious ceremony was meant to signify purification, but according to the rest of the definition, it sounds like the water would signify defamation. Which is it? Or is "aspersion" one of those words that means both one thing and its exact opposite?

I hope all you religious scholars will weigh in on the first question, and all you word nerds can send me further examples of the second. I'm looking for words like "oversight," which can mean both omission ("Due to an oversight, the records were incorrect") and supervision ("The oversight committee governed the project"). Bring 'em on!