An Oxymoron

The use of oxymorons in the English language is quite popular. Oxymorons are a contradiction in terms that are an acceptable figure of speech. I personally, am very fond of their usage. The idea that two contradicting terms can be used together, to enhance the meaning of a phrase, somehow seems to bend the rules.

We use our words to express who we are and what we’re thinking. When communicating our thoughts through our written word, we don’t have the advantage of body language and voice inflection to stress a point. That makes the words we choose to express our thoughts, that much more important.. Oxymorons allow us to inject humor and rhetoric in a format that is easy for our reader to understand.

Following is a list of oxymorons and examples of their common usage:

• Pretty ugly – “Yeah, she’s pretty ugly and pretty apt to stay that way.”
• Found missing – “She wasn’t found missing until early the next morning.”
• Working vacation – “We’re headed to the Bahamas on a working vacation.”
• Passive agressive – We encourage you to use a passive agressive approach when dealing with conflict.”
• Act naturally – “Don’t worry, they’ll love you. Just act naturally.”
• Alone together – “If we could just spend some time alone together, I know we’d both feel better.
• Sweet sorrow “Parting is such sweet sorrow.”
• Small crowd – “A small crowd formed outide the singer’s hotel.”
• Almost exactly – “That’s almost exactly the same as my blue dress.”
• Good grief – “Good grief, Charlie Brown.”

Oxymorons serve as handy tools in expressing both humor and opinion. When taken literally, the phrase in which they’re used can sound rather silly. However, used correctly, they can add flare and accent to almost any point you‘re attempting to make. Even William Shakespeare realized their poetic potential.