There are several ways to define and use the words pro and con.

Pro is described as a positive word and indicates a favorable attitude regarding a specific topic.

Con is described as a negative word and indicates a contrary attitude regarding a particular issue. And the use of the word contrary in the previous sentence emphasizes what’s to come in this column with the prefix proposition for both words.

I was tempted to count the number of words with the prefixes of pro and con in a dictionary. This would be like conducting a contest. Hey, folks, without even trying, there are already two more examples of this prefix business. Then, as a time-saver, I decided on a different method to determine a champion between those two prefixes.

My particular copy of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary has eight full pages of words using pro as a prefix; words like professor, province and project.

This same dictionary has ten and a half full pages with words using con as a prefix; words like confirm, continent, congeal and conquest. Thus, we have a champion for this particular contest.

Two words using pro as a prefix have an interesting part in the history of the Albert Lea Tribune. One is Progress and the other word is Profile. These two words may sound familiar to the Tribune’s readers. They’ve served as the main themes for the annual really large Sunday issues which used to come out on the last Sunday of March, and now is distributed on the last Sunday of February. The title of

Progress was used up to the 1992 issue. For the 1993 issue and up to the present time the magical word is Profile.

As stated earlier, the word pro is defined as positive. Yet, as a prefix it can end up being part of something negative.

Now, having written this, here are some interesting examples. One is procrastinate, better defined as putting off or delaying a decision. Another is prodigal, like the Biblical reference to the prodigal son. Two words which are rather similar in meaning and usage are profane and profanity. Then there’s the profiteer which had a very obvious definition. Still another word in this category is prolong, or drag out. A word I won’t comment on is promiscuous.

Words which could be both positive or negative, depending on how they’re used or considered are probation, probe, problem, prohibit and protest. And the use of the words considered in the previous sentence helps to set the stage for the next part of this topic.

If there are some words with pro as a prefix that are negative, then maybe there are

some words with the con prefix which are actually positive.

As I went through the dictionary’s long list of words with the con prefix, those with a positive connotation include the following: conceive, conception, concert, conciliate, confection, conscience, consensual, congregation, considerate, console, convivial and even more.

Words in the category of being both positive or negative, depending on usage, are

confederate, confess (or confession), contest (considering the odds and /or honesty of the sponsors) and contrive.

As I contemplated the dictionary’s list of con-connected words, I happened to encounter the word concertina. Right at this point I decided this particular musical instrument should be the topic for a future column.

To close off this column, let’s dissect the word progress. It consists of two syllables or units, pro and gress. Yet, there’s no word like gress in my dictionary. The really large dictionary in the Tribune’s newsroom which has its own stand does have the word gres which is of French origin and defined as stoneware. Anyway, gress has been combined with other prefixes to also create regress, digress and transgress.

Now, if progress is a word with a very positive meaning, then what is Congress?

(Feature writer Ed Shannon’s column appears each Friday.)