TonyB asked about reverse words, here's some detail

By Hermione Gray

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HERE are some words whose meanings have been reversed, from Reader's Digest Facts & Fallacies.

• Backlog - This used to indicate a desirable stockpile - the back log was the one placed on a fire to keep it going. Now it means a pile of work that needs attention.
• Girl - In the 13th century, the word 'girl' signified any young person, no matter what their sex. If you needed to tell them apart, a female was sometimes known as a 'gay girl' and a male as a 'knave girl'.
• Idiot - This word was used to describe an ordinary person, and came to mean a layman, i.e. someone who was not a clergyman. At the time, not many people outside the church were educated, so the word became associated with an uneducated person, or a foolish and ignorant one. Now it means some who is extremely stupid.
• Prevent - Back in the 15th century, to prevent meant to act in anticipation of an event. A century later, it means to keep from happening.
• Quilt - From the Latin culcita (mattress) it used to describe what you lay on in bed. By the 19th century, it denoted the bedcovering on top of the sleeper.
• Sophisticated - It isn't too long since sophisticated meant false. If you were to sophisticate something, it meant you were adding artificial ingredients: a 'sophisticated document' was one which had been altered by forgery. Now it describes someone or something refined and cultured.
• Upset - This used to mean to set up something, and now it means the opposite.
• With - With used to mean against. This sense is still used in phrases, such as 'to fight with'.