Happy is to sad as angry is to (blank)

This blog is named for the opposite of disgruntled, which should be gruntled — but really isn't. The dis- in disgruntled is not the same as the dis- in, say, disfavor. ("My boss disfavors me. That's why I'm so disgruntled.")

Instead, this dis- is used as an intensive. The gruntled comes from the Middle English gruntelen, meaning "to grumble." The intensive -dis means you're grumbling more when you're disgruntled. Ann from Esmerel.com has a nice explanation of all this here.

So while we're speaking of feelings and their opposites — like happy and sad — why the heck is there no opposite for angry? Recently we talked about how anger leads to the Dark Side — no, wait, that's something else — how anger leads to employee lawsuits (see the post on "Retained Dignity"). If we should be worrying about angry employees, what do we call them when they're not angry?

WordNet (via Answers.com) lists unangry as an antonym for angry, but that's sillier than disgruntled. It's completely made up. The word mavens at Oxford Dictionaries certainly don't buy it: otherwise, there'd be a solution for the old riddle of the three English words ending in "-gry" (along with hungry and, of course, angry). (There is no third word.)

What's the big deal? you ask. Well, I submit that opposites are important. For proof, there's the classic bit on The Simpsons where Dr. Nick literally pours gasoline on a fire, while reassuring bystanders, "Don't worry. It says Inflammable." After the explosion, Dr. Nick says, "Inflammable means flammable? What a country!"

What a country, indeed.