Today’s cartoon is based on an actual conversation my wife and I had today. As I was saying it I realized underwhelmed is NOT the opposite of overwhelmed even though “over” and “under” are.
overwhelmed
- Bury or drown beneath a huge mass.
- Defeat completely.
underwhelmed
- Fail to impress or make a positive impact on (someone); disappoint
You would think they wouldn’t BOTH be bad. Anyone else think of two words that should mean opposite things but really aren’t?
I;m sure what you do every day underwhelms her.
Well she didn’t marry me for my toilet cleaning skills….
No, because that would be overwhelming
Overwhelmed with the fumes from the amount of cleanser I use.
I hope that you use a brush for that job
Whatever you do Bearman, don’t underwhelm your wife. Not a good thing. Bwahahahahaha. Did she laugh? I would have.
Have a terrific day.
She did Sandee….so my job was done.
Absolutely. Progress and congress. *Grins*
Red.
Progress by itself is good. Though you could say there is no Pro in Con(gress)
haha
By the time I point out the obvious way a man ‘underwhelms’ a woman the joke will have been made by a bunch of other commenters…
It will and it has
Unmovable and immovable always perplexed me.
Those aren’t opposites but quit perplexing
or over-perplexing!!!
Under-perplexing in Bearman’s
case but hey I think that he is
getting far too many negatives
on this posting so how about we
change all that and give him a
break, nooooooo not a fracture,
just a breather
I can take it. I am teflon tough
Yeah like a cotton-ball. (smile) I’m not dead- just been busy. Missing all my blog peoples.
Good to see you don’t have Dingy Disease Lynn
How about inflammable and flammable? They should seem like opposites, but they mean the same thing I believe.
That always used to really confuse me when I was little! They’d have “Inflammable” on the back of gas tanker trucks and I couldn’t figure out why they wouldn’t burn. Luckily I didn’t try to set them on fire.
Binky is a pyro
I just like to observe chemical reactions.
Wouldn’t that have to be inflammable and outflammable?
I was going to suggest flammable. Outflammable sounds good. And there’s always unflammable. Are unflappable people unflammable I wonder?
While you were looking those up did you happen to look up the term whelmed? I did a post on that one once. It’s a seafaring term.
Give us a link to your post
Oh! I can do this one! If an item is flammable it can burst into flames; if an item is inflammable it can burst into flames. That one used to always confuse me.
You did a great job on her body attitude, Bearman. She looks so deflated.
Of course my wife will say “That looks nothing like me” It’s not supposed to honey…well maybe a little.
I also meant to say that if she may be somewhat underwhelmed by his response… ;`)
She typically is..haha That is why my mouth tends to get me in trouble.
Hmm, and overtaker is not the opposite of undertaker.
I hope I continue to overtake the undertaker
Nothing says succeed like underwhelming ones wife; thus fulfilling every one of your mother-in-law’s predictions. You have made one woman VERY happy. Not the one you wanted to, but still . . . one small step for a son-in-law, one giant leap for . . . hmmmm, not exactly sure who giant step is for.
I am my mother-in-laws favorite. If you don’t believe me…just ask me.
When I came home last Thursday & told Michelle my job had been made redundant she was definitely underwhelmed.
We are all familiar with overwhelmed. This is the 1st time I’ve heard of underwhelmed. Is there a middle ground?
Is it possible to be just plain old whelmed?
Lisleman says there is a “whelmed” but it has nothing to do with this so probably doesn’t matter.
I Googled & found this;
whelmed – past participle, past tense of whelm (Verb)
Verb:
Engulf, submerge, or bury (someone or something): “a swimmer whelmed in a raging storm”.
Flow or heap up abundantly.
I have an example. I was whelmed in a mountain of chocolate
As long as you weren’t Over or Underwhelmed in it.
I’m coming to rescue you, Tony!
I figured you might be somewhere around
I can smell chocolate from a continent away!
Word on the street is some people can smell you from a continent away.
Jeez, Bearman, I’ve only just got to work. Far too early for a quiz. Ask me again after I’ve had a few cups of coffee !
…and a few shots?
Your motive was in the right place.
So was the execution…she laughed.
All I know is always take the under when betting on football
I never really got that.
inside out/outside in ?
Coffee kicked in
I’m really good at underwhelming my wife…
Obviously not with the 100 kids you got running around
On the distant Planet of Gobba 5 Underwhelmed is a term used for Alien Cohabitation and friskiness, while on the fourth ring of Saturn it is a slang word for Random Slap and Tickle so I guess that even when the words are not similar there can still be confusion on what the words actually equate to
How do you mean that’s not what you meant? Yes I know it isn’t Bearman but at least you have learnt something out of the ordinary on the back of your posting so how about that for a wicked development? 
lol
So on Gobba and Saturn asking if I can underwhelm you is a come on. hmmmmm. Good info if I ever find myself out there.
I would liked to have seen the look on your wife’s face when you said that.
How about packed and unpacked?
Those are opposites.
I was on the phone with her so she couldn’t throw something at me.
I need to have someone around to underwhelm me, that would be nice. lol
awww….time for a pity party?
Not only do I have to come up with two words but I need to understand their meaning(s) as well? This does not bode well for me.
Ask your wife…you married her for more than her looks
Maybe you can compromise and just “whelm” her!
There is no such thing as compromise in marriage.
I hope I dont overwhelm you by telling you your efforts underwhelm me on a regular basis! [grin]
And yet you come back for more.
I’m going to try that at my house…..please stand by…..
It has been 24 hours…do we need to call someone in?
I could go for some underwhelming right now. I just started my swing shift, it’s, eh, different.
Swing shift? At a playground?
So if he succeeds, would that make him an underachiever?
Understandably
Considering what “underwhelm” actually means, I find your toon quite hilarious!
I would hope so or my work might be considered underdeveloped.
Hmmm… can you just be whelmed?
I like the way he looks at life.
So you like the way I look at life..haha
Love the cartoon. Why am I thinking “Overwhelmed, underwhelmed, interwhelmed and off”? Sounds like a knitting pattern. No, I don’t knit.
But now you should. interwhelmed??? You are off…haha
Darn. I guess I’ll stick to “whelming”.
Thanks for the explanations.
I think “whelm” can get attached to a lot of things.
Microwhelmed – a small whelming.
Psuedowhelmed – a fake whelming.
Hyperwhelmed – a fast whelming.
Megawhelmed – a really big whelming.
Deltawhelmed – the difference between two whelmings.
Omegawhelmed – the final whelming.
Ultrawhelmed – the biggest whelming of them all.
Electrowhelmed – a shocking whelming.
Datawhelmed – too much information.
Orgasmowhelmed – a whelming of pleasure.
Prewhelmed – right before a whelming.
Postwhelmed – right after a whelming.
Negawhelmed – a negative whelming.
Bitchwhelmed – a dominating whelming by another at your own expense.
Bewhelming – something that could be whelming, or is whelming, but you don’t know why.
Pyrowhelming – a whelming that makes you too hot.
Cryowhelming – a whelming that makes you too cold.
Bearwhelming – a whelming from bearman.
Ursawhelming – a whelming from a bear.
Beerwhelming – an overwhelmingly good beer.
I’m impressed. I’m glad Im not depressed and I ain’t sure I want to be pressed.
You are always pressed for time
~STANDING OVATION~
Thank you thank you.