Why oxymorons are used

Sometimes they're used to create a little bit of drama for the reader; sometimes they're used to make a person stop and think, whether that's to laugh or to wonder. The defining characteristic of an oxymoron is combining words or phrases that have opposite meanings. Because of this, an oxymoron is often referred to as a contradiction in terms. Oxymorons are not meant to be taken literally. Instead, meaning should be derived from the context in which an oxymoron is used. A common oxymoron is the phrase "the same difference.

Bringing them together into one phrase can produce a verbally puzzling, yet engaging, effect. It's likely you've used, or at least heard, a few oxymorons in your everyday life, even if you didn't realize it at the time.

Consider the common oxymorons and think about times they may have been included in conversations you have had. There are oxymorons throughout the alphabet, from "a" to "z.

Oxymorons aren't limited to the first few letters of the alphabet. Keep going to discover even more. Is it starting to seem like there is an unlimited supply of oxymorons in the English language?

That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but there are certainly more than just a few. Approaching the end of the alphabet, there are still more oxymorons to explore. It's really interesting to see how this figure of speech finds its way into everyday communication.

Review the example sentences below to get a better sense of how oxymorons can be used in sentences and dialogue.

In speech, oxymorons can lend a sense of humor, irony, or sarcasm. The word "oxymoron" is itself oxymoronic, which is to say contradictory. The word is derived from two ancient Greek words: oxys , which means "sharp," and moronos , which means "dull" or "stupid.

There are two oxymorons in this sentence: "minor crisis" and "only choice. Read literally, they contradict themselves. A crisis is defined as a time of serious difficulty or importance.

By that measure, no crisis is unimportant or minor. Similarly, "choice" implies more than one option, which is contradicted by "only," which implies the opposite. But once you become fluent in English , it's easy to recognize such oxymorons for the figures of speech that they are.

As the example's author, Richard Watson Todd, said, "The true beauty of oxymorons is that, unless we sit back and really think, we happily accept them as normal English. Oxymorons have been used since the days of the ancient Greek poets. William Shakespeare was known to sprinkle them throughout his plays, poems, and sonnets. This oxymoron is often used to describe the chaos that someone has created — but when they actually know where everything is.

If something is a secret, no one else is supposed to know about it. This oxymoron is a great way to describe a fact that started off as a secret, but now a select number of people know about it.

I found this helpful. I did not find this helpful. The phrase daily night certainly features contrary wording. Instead, it takes linguistic skill in knowing which words, though opposing, will work together to have an effect on the reader. One example of a skillful oxymoron is real fake.

Therefore, the linguistic skill demonstrated in this oxymoron is a layered. Real fake is a combination of contradictory terms. However, the terms are also complementary as a pair. Oxymoron can enhance drama in writing. This is especially achieved if the word pairing reveals intensity or a great difference in quality. For example, if a character receives a painful smile, this creates a significant dramatic effect. Smiles are rarely associated with pain.

Therefore, the reader is left in some suspense to wonder what events or feelings would result in such a response received by the character.