OXYMORON 2

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Dr. Goodword
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OXYMORON 2

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sun Apr 01, 2007 11:19 pm

• oxymoron •

Pronunciation: ahk-si-mo-ron • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: A phrase or compound word containing two words that are ostensibly semantic opposites, such as "a long brief" or "hot ice".

Notes: We hope yesterday's April Fool's joke did not discourage you from reading today's Good Word, now properly described; the meaning above is the correct one. The adjective for this word is oxymoronic and the adverb oxymoronically. Try using the plural oxymora instead of oxymorons; it really impresses people.

In Play: When Judy Side came in wearing tight slacks, her friend Lotta Noyes (who was wearing loose tights), turned to me and said, "Good Grief! When Judy and I are alone together, things can get pretty ugly." When these two go out to eat boneless ribs or jumbo shrimp, they often end up in a friendly argument with the wait staff if they are served hard water or wine in plastic glasses. (How many oxymora can you count in this little story?)

Word History: Today's Good Word is Greek oxymoron, made up of oxys "sharp, acid" and moros "dull, stupid", pretty much untouched. Greek oxys is also found in oxygen. It is akin to Latin acus "needle" whose root we see in acute, acuity, and acupuncture. The original Proto-Indo-European root, meaning "needle", came to the Germanic languages as something like *agjo which developed into Old Norse eggja "to needle, egg on". During one of the friendly Viking visits to England from the 9th through the 11th centuries, English borrowed this word for its verb to egg (on). The word was already in English but with a different pronunciation: today's edge. (We are grateful to David Ross for suggesting today's fine word without our having to egg him.)
• The Good Dr. Goodword

Perry
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Postby Perry » Mon Apr 02, 2007 7:32 am

And what better oxymoron than this?

Image

Or should I have put this on yesterday's oxymoron thread?
"Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening all at once. Lately it hasn't been working."
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