Oh my word ANTI, ANTE

Punters have placed ante-post bets on cricket matches even though the government has made its anti-gambling stance clear. Anti is of Greek origin: against. Anti is a preposition meaning “opposed to”. Anti (noun, plural: antis) is a person opposed to a particular policy. He is anti to everything she says.

Anti is a handy word which helps form different words when clubbed with other words. As a prefix it is used with adjectives and nouns: opposed to – antivivisectionism, anticlimax, antipope, antitrust, antiseptic, antiviral, unlike the conventional hero: anti-hero, in physics the antiparticle of a specified particle such as antiproton Anti-aircraft: attributive adjective: used to make enemy aircraft;

Antibacterial – adjective – active against bacteria Antibody, antibodies: any of a class of blood proteins (immunoglobins) produced in response to and counteracting antigens. Antisocial elements are those who disturb the social order. Police keep an eye on antisocial elements and comb them up when they sense disorder from them.

Antipodes (plural noun) is a place diametrically opposite to another. Antipodes also refer to Australia and New Zealand. Ante is a noun meaning a stake or a bet. It is a stake put by a player in a game like poker before receiving cards. The phrase “up the ante” is an amount paid in advance.

Like anti, ante is widely used as a prefix to form compound words. “Many schools are in the grip of one of the most anti-meritocratic forces in America: the teachers’ unions, which resist any hint that good teaching should be rewarded or bad teachers fired.” –The Economist, January 24th 2015 Ante can be used as a prefix before nouns and adjectives.

Ante date or back dating is putting yesterday’s date (and before) on a document rather today’s. There are instances when a minister signs letters with ante-dates for an obvious reason. Seemandhra leaders upped the ante with Union Territory demand for Hyderabad at the time of the pre-bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh.

Ante-natal (adjective) care is given to a pregnant woman before birth while post-natal care is given afterwards. Ante-natal (noun) examination in private hospitals is in demand. Ante-natal care is usually given by the family members to a pregnant woman but the government should strive to have ante-natal units in the Primary Health Centres. There is none who is anti to ante-natal care in the government hospitals.