the little tome of oxymorons (completely abridged)

8/14/2019 The Little Tome of Oxymorons (Completely Abridged)

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The Little Tome of

OXYMORONSOXYMORONSOXYMORONSOXYMORONS

(completely abridged)

by

Ronan Higgins


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The Little Tome of Oxymorons 2001. Ronan Higgins. All Rights Reserved.Images used in this document do not have clearance for publication. Do not reproduce.Images are delivered in low resolution. High-resolution versions are available uponrequest and with owners permission.


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Introduction

When I was growing up, conversations concerning word-puns, oxymorons andtautologies would come up regularly at the dinner table.

My stepmother would never hesitate to reach for the dictionary, thesaurus or French-

English dictionary to prove her point.

As a last resort my father would be sent scurrying out to the hall, where we kept thevolumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica, to return with the weighty tomes.

This collection of oxymorons is devoted to their passion.

In collecting the oxymorons that follow I have been quite liberal with the definition ofwhat an oxymoron actually is. Websters Dictionary states:

Oxymoron \Ox`y*mo"ron\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ???, fr. ??? pointedly foolish; ??? sharp + ??? foolish.](Rhet.) A figure in which an epithet of a contrary signification is added to a word; e. g., cruel kindness;

laborious idleness.I have extended the definition to include three more word forms.

1. Word combinations that are not necessarily contrary to each other in a literal sense,but contrary in a humorous sense. For example military intelligence. The humor,of course, is subjective, and relies heavily on your cultural reference point. In thisexample you might not see the oxymoron if you were in the military and believed thatthe military could be intelligent. I have focused on oxymorons that might behumorous to North Americans.

2. Single words that contain contrary phrases internally. For example bittersweet

3. Single words that contain contrary phrases internally, but in a humorous sense morethan a literal sense. For example freeway, where freeways are known to have somuch traffic that they rarely run free.

The collection is not exhaustive. I had many more submissions, however I tried to focuson those with the greatest level of irony.

During my research to compile this collection I also came across a large number ofimages that would give increased pun to the irony already being delivered by theoxymoron. I decided to include those images with this collection. Initially I felt that theimages (which tell a thousand words!) might take away from the text, however I feel now

that they compliment each other well.

If you have any good oxymorons that you would like to submit for inclusion in the nextedition of this collection please email them to [email protected].

Look out for the next work in this series, The Big Tome of Tautologies.


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the little tome of oxymorons (completely abridged)

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