Overwhelmed Underwhelmed

Feeling Overwhelmed Underwhelmed Cartoon

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?

Comments

84 responses to “Overwhelmed Underwhelmed”

  1. Binky Avatar

    I;m sure what you do every day underwhelms her.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Well she didn’t marry me for my toilet cleaning skills….

      1. Friggin Loon Avatar

        No, because that would be overwhelming 🙂

        1. Bearman Avatar

          Overwhelmed with the fumes from the amount of cleanser I use.

          1. Androgoth Avatar

            I hope that you use a brush for that job 🙂

  2. Comedy Plus Avatar

    Whatever you do Bearman, don’t underwhelm your wife. Not a good thing. Bwahahahahaha. Did she laugh? I would have.

    Have a terrific day. 🙂

    1. Bearman Avatar

      She did Sandee….so my job was done.

  3. Red Avatar

    Absolutely. Progress and congress. *Grins*
    Red.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Progress by itself is good. Though you could say there is no Pro in Con(gress)

      haha

  4. DadaHyena Avatar

    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…

    1. Bearman Avatar

      It will and it has

  5. George Avatar

    Unmovable and immovable always perplexed me.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Those aren’t opposites but quit perplexing

      1. Friggin Loon Avatar

        or over-perplexing!!!

        1. Androgoth Avatar

          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 🙂

          1. Bearman Avatar

            I can take it. I am teflon tough

          2. Lynn Avatar

            Yeah like a cotton-ball. (smile) I’m not dead- just been busy. Missing all my blog peoples.

          3. Bearman Avatar

            Good to see you don’t have Dingy Disease Lynn

      2. George Avatar

        How about inflammable and flammable? They should seem like opposites, but they mean the same thing I believe.

        1. Binky Avatar

          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.

          1. Bearman Avatar

            Binky is a pyro

          2. Binky Avatar

            I just like to observe chemical reactions.

        2. Bearman Avatar

          Wouldn’t that have to be inflammable and outflammable?

          1. Sheila Deeth Avatar

            I was going to suggest flammable. Outflammable sounds good. And there’s always unflammable. Are unflappable people unflammable I wonder?

  6. lisleman Avatar

    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.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Give us a link to your post

  7. Jande Avatar

    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.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Of course my wife will say “That looks nothing like me” It’s not supposed to honey…well maybe a little.

  8. Jande Avatar

    I also meant to say that if she may be somewhat underwhelmed by his response… ;`)

    1. Bearman Avatar

      She typically is..haha That is why my mouth tends to get me in trouble.

  9. Friggin Loon Avatar

    Hmm, and overtaker is not the opposite of undertaker. 🙂

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I hope I continue to overtake the undertaker

  10. Keith Bearman Avatar
    Keith Bearman

    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.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I am my mother-in-laws favorite. If you don’t believe me…just ask me.

  11. Tony McGurk Avatar

    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?

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Lisleman says there is a “whelmed” but it has nothing to do with this so probably doesn’t matter.

      1. Tony McGurk Avatar

        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

        1. Bearman Avatar

          As long as you weren’t Over or Underwhelmed in it.

        2. Binky Avatar

          I’m coming to rescue you, Tony!

          1. Bearman Avatar

            I figured you might be somewhere around

          2. Binky Avatar

            I can smell chocolate from a continent away!

          3. Bearman Avatar

            Word on the street is some people can smell you from a continent away.

  12. duncanr Avatar

    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 !

    1. Bearman Avatar

      …and a few shots?

  13. Japanese Ghost Avatar

    Your motive was in the right place.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      So was the execution…she laughed.

  14. Nate Fakes Avatar
    Nate Fakes

    All I know is always take the under when betting on football

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I never really got that.

  15. duncanr Avatar

    inside out/outside in ?

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Coffee kicked in

  16. Roland Avatar

    I’m really good at underwhelming my wife…

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Obviously not with the 100 kids you got running around

  17. Androgoth Avatar

    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

    1. Bearman Avatar

      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.

  18. Deb Avatar

    I would liked to have seen the look on your wife’s face when you said that.
    How about packed and unpacked?

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Those are opposites.

      I was on the phone with her so she couldn’t throw something at me.

  19. Rent Textbooks Avatar

    I need to have someone around to underwhelm me, that would be nice. lol

    1. Bearman Avatar

      awww….time for a pity party?

  20. SpilledInkGuy Avatar

    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.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Ask your wife…you married her for more than her looks

  21. JerryBenedict Avatar

    Maybe you can compromise and just “whelm” her!

    1. Bearman Avatar

      There is no such thing as compromise in marriage.

  22. jynksie Avatar

    I hope I dont overwhelm you by telling you your efforts underwhelm me on a regular basis! [grin]

    1. Bearman Avatar

      And yet you come back for more.

  23. Gruhn Avatar

    I’m going to try that at my house…..please stand by…..

    1. Bearman Avatar

      It has been 24 hours…do we need to call someone in?

  24. Jack of Gulls Comic Avatar

    I could go for some underwhelming right now. I just started my swing shift, it’s, eh, different.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Swing shift? At a playground?

  25. Mark Stokes Avatar

    So if he succeeds, would that make him an underachiever?

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Understandably

  26. She Who Carries Camera Avatar

    Considering what “underwhelm” actually means, I find your toon quite hilarious! 🙂

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I would hope so or my work might be considered underdeveloped.

  27. Chris K Avatar

    Hmmm… can you just be whelmed?

  28. James Avatar

    I like the way he looks at life.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      So you like the way I look at life..haha

  29. Sheila Deeth Avatar

    Love the cartoon. Why am I thinking “Overwhelmed, underwhelmed, interwhelmed and off”? Sounds like a knitting pattern. No, I don’t knit.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      But now you should. interwhelmed??? You are off…haha

  30. Tyler Avatar

    Darn. I guess I’ll stick to “whelming”.

  31. Cha Avatar

    Thanks for the explanations. 🙂

  32. writerdood Avatar

    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.

    1. Bo Lumpkim Avatar

      I’m impressed. I’m glad Im not depressed and I ain’t sure I want to be pressed.

      1. Bearman Avatar

        You are always pressed for time

    2. Red Avatar

      ~STANDING OVATION~

      1. Bearman Avatar

        Thank you thank you.