oxymoron

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 9, 2007 is: oxymoron • \ahk-sih-MOR-ahn\  • noun : a combination of contradictory or incongruous words Examples: "That's an oxymoron!" said Joanne, when she heard the DJ describe the song as an "instant classic." Did you know? The Greeks exhaustively classified the elements of rhetoric, or effective speech and writing, and gave the name "oxymoron," literally "pointed foolishness," to the deliberate juxtaposing of seemingly contradictory words. The roots of "oxymoron" -- "oxys," meaning "sharp" or "keen," and "moros," meaning "foolish" -- are nearly antonyms themselves, making "oxymoron" nicely self-descriptive. "Oxymoron" originally applied to a meaningful paradox condensed into a couple of words, as in "precious bane," "lonely crowd," or "sweet sorrow." Today, however, "oxymoron" can also refer to unintentional contradictions, like "a plastic glass." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.