The word personality literally means the state or function or behavior of a person. So why then do we say a cat or dog or bird has a personality? Shouldn't it be a catality or dogality or birdality?

ive been writing “food” over and over again for my bullet journal and it has become a fake word to me. like, why is food called food?? it doesnt make sense.

we eat FOOD
f o o d
sounds like im a goblin idk man im having a crisis over here

You know how sometimes in lyrics or poetry two words will be merged together to encompass both meanings?

The only examples I think of right now are:

Chappell Roan using "femininomenon" to mean a feminine phenomenon.

Lily Allen using "nonmonogamummy" to mean a non-monogamous mother.

Is there a word for this? Also, if anyone can think of any other examples I'd love to hear them.

Why?

If you are using FORTE to describe a specialty or strength, it's pronounced FORT. FOR-TAY is a musical term.

But people will usually think you're pronouncing it wrong, so oddly, depending on the company, it might be better to avoid the word .

Edit: This was the adamant voice of an English professor years ago, unfortunately unexamined by me. I stand before you better for the experience.

For example, I enjoy saying unrequited and I love how the ancient Greeks got specific enough to come up with words for distinct types of love.

I was thinking about how weird the English language is today and remembered the word cleave. Depending on how you use it, it either means "to stick together tightly" or "to split completely apart."

Another great example is sanction, which can mean to permit something, but can also mean to impose a penalty against something.

What are some of your favorite contronyms (or "auto-antonyms") that make you wonder how we ever successfully communicate with each other?