Ever wondered why we say :

tick-tock, not tock-tick,

or ding-dong,
not dong ding;

King Kong,
not Kong King…?

Turns out it is one of the unwritten rules of English that native speakers know without knowing.

The rule, explains a BBC article, is:

The interesting part is they are formed by the same set of alphabets but convey a mutually contradictory or sometimes complementary meaning.

Here are a dozen of them.

1. Teach Cheat

Some BABAs teach, some cheat and remaining teach to cheat.

2. Listen. Silent

Be silent and listen.

3. Admirer. Married

Status before and after marriage.

4.Fast. Fats

Either fast or add fats as you feast.

5. Marital. Martial

A misplaced ‘I’ turns marital relationship into martial one.

6. Creative. Reactive

You can never be creative if you are reactive.

7. Sweat. Waste

If you dont sweat as a youth you will waste your entire life, so sweat or waste.

8. Bedroom. Boredom

Always keep boredom out of your bedroom because that is the place where you spent half of your life and mostly in your own company.

9. Vote. Veto

One veto and a million votes undone.

10. Exist. Exits

We exist between our entries and exits.

11. Stain. Saint

Hard to find a saint without a stain.

12. Split. Spilt

Dont cry over split milk. Make paneer.

Dont cry over spilt milk either. Feed the cat.