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List of favorite oxymorons, redundancies and a few euphemisms

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by jared2, Jun 1, 2006.

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  1. jared2

    jared2 New Member

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    Can anyone think of some good oxymorons? How about:

    military intelligence
    compassionate conservative
    affordable health care
    intelligent design
    vegetarian steakhouse
    useful weblog
    polite New Yorker
    true lies
    well to do n'er do well
    aggressive Canadian
    important meeting
    peace officer
    friendly fire
    quality time
    modern coed
    spacious cubicle
    natural justice
    flamboyant banker
    comfortable prius seat
    clean coal
    cold fusion
    empowered employee
    devout atheist
    moral majority
    cold fire
    hot ice



    Oxymoron


    [< post-classical Latin oxymoron figure of speech in which a pair of opposed or markedly contradictory terms are placed in conjunction for emphasis (5th cent.; also oxymorum) < ancient Greek {olenis}{xi}{upsilon}- OXY-1 + {mu}{omega}{rho}{goacu}{fsigma} dull, stupid, foolish (see MORON n.2).
    The Greek form {olenis}{xi}{guacu}{mu}{omega}{rho}{omicron}{nu} does not appear to be recorded in extant Greek sources.]

    1. Rhetoric. A figure of speech in which a pair of opposed or markedly contradictory terms are placed in conjunction for emphasis.
    [1640 E. REYNOLDS Treat. Passions xvii. 186 It was a bold but true {olenis}{xi}{guacu}{mu}{omega}{rho}{omicron}{nu} of Seneca. Mortibus vivimus.] 1657 J. SMITH Myst. Rhetorique 121 Oxymoron, {olenis}{xi}{guacu}{mu}{omega}{rho}{omicron}{nu}, Acutifatuum aut stulte acutum, subtilly foolish. a1677 I. BARROW Several Serm. Evil-speaking (1678) ii. 59 Some elegant figures..lofty Hyperbole's, Paronomasies, Oxymorons..lie very near upon the confines of jocularity. 1792 W. ROBERTS Looker-on No. 30 (1794) I. 427 These contradictory gentlemen..were thus pressed together in a forced kind of union, like the figure oxymoron. 1850 C. ANTHON in Cicero De Senectute 164 In giving sensim its strict literal meaning, we will perceive here both an alliteration and oxymoron, the idea being, in fact, this: ‘life grows old so gradually that we perceive it, and yet do not perceive it.’ 1890 Q. Rev. 160 289 Voltaire..we might call, by an oxymoron which has plenty of truth in it, an ‘Epicurean pessimist’. 1930 Speculum 5 63 Like other mediaeval poets Joseph pushes oxymoron to a stage where it borders on the absurd. 1982 T. HAMILTON Robert Lovell xx. 370 Many of the sonnets are recognizably by Robert Lovell; they employ his verbal tricks{em}his triple adjectives, his gnomic oxymorons.

    2. More generally: a contradiction in terms.
    1902 World's by Eyewitness 206 The Boer set free from the discipline of the commando is a loafer of loafers, though, it is true, a living oxymoron in his activity and resource in the loafing game. 1989 Texas Monthly Oct. 32/2 ‘Healthful’ and ‘Mexican food’ need not be an oxymoron. This out-of-the-way tortilla factory and restaurant uses organic grains and natural chicken and beef in its recipes and low-cholesterol canola oil for frying. 1993 Guardian 28 Aug. 22/5 This opened up an oxymoron too dreadful to contemplate: affordable caviar.
     
    #1 jared2, Jun 1, 2006
  2. larkinmj

    larkinmj New Member

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    Jumbo Shrimp
    Reality TV
    Anti-missile Missile
    Homeland Security
    Fox "News"
     
    #2 larkinmj, Jun 1, 2006
  3. dbermanmd

    dbermanmd New Member

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    Canadian Healthcare
    Smart liberal
    Intellectual liberal
    John Kerry - War Hero
    Canadian Air Force
    Pro-Life Democrat (think about this one)
    Global Warming
    Socialist Democrat
    Hillary (oxy) Clinton (moron)
    Anti-War Democrat
    Pro-American Democrat
    Pro-Defense Democrat
    Anti-Terror Liberal
     
    #3 dbermanmd, Jun 1, 2006
  4. jared2

    jared2 New Member

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    Boy, I'm running out of steam! Do I have to do all the work here?
     
    #4 jared2, Jun 1, 2006
  5. larkinmj

    larkinmj New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Jun 1 2006, 12:12 PM) [snapback]264042[/snapback]</div>
    You are just serving to show what an ignorant nice person you really are. So Mr. dbermanmd, war hero- please advise us of your military service- and then I will respond to your other post, before you go hijacking any other threads.
     
    #5 larkinmj, Jun 1, 2006
  6. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    Sorry, Jared. You're doing a good job so far. I lost interest after reading "Canadian healthcare" and "global warming" among the list.

    Perhaps I'll borrow something from one of the original oxymoronic sayings..."War is Peace. Ignorance is Strength. Freedom is Slavery" by adding "Time is money."
     
    #6 hyo silver, Jun 1, 2006
  7. jared2

    jared2 New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hyo silver @ Jun 1 2006, 04:22 PM) [snapback]264207[/snapback]</div>
    Thanks. As I say, I no longer bother to read posts of right wing humorless nutters. So I only see their posts at second hand, if quoted by someone. [And yes, they were just as feeble as I thought they would be.] By the way, don't judge all Americans by him. I have lived here for over ten years and I like it very much - the land, the people. It is not their fault the country was hyjacked by extreme neocon xenophobic fascists.
     
    #7 jared2, Jun 1, 2006
  8. koa

    koa Active Member

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    nonpolitical responses
     
    #8 koa, Jun 1, 2006
  9. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jared2 @ Jun 1 2006, 03:35 PM) [snapback]264214[/snapback]</div>
    That's OK, we have those here too, though not as many and not as extreme. Thankfully, I'm well aware of the differences between individuals and their governments. I have friends and family in the US, mostly Oregon and California, and they're none too keen on the current leadership either. I've toured your West coast on a bicycle as far south as Los Gatos, and crossed the country by train from to Seattle to Chicago (on my way to Toronto) and back via LA. The dunes in Oregon and the Redwoods in California were especially memorable. Most of the people I met were kind and friendly.
     
    #9 hyo silver, Jun 1, 2006
  10. Sufferin' Prius Envy

    Sufferin' Prius Envy Platinum Member

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    Liberal Freethinker :lol:

    (if you are pigeonholing yourself as liberal, how can you be an objective free thinker?)

    Wouldn't Impartial Freethinker make more sense? :huh: :D
     
    #10 Sufferin' Prius Envy, Jun 1, 2006
  11. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    research funding... <_<
     
    #11 galaxee, Jun 1, 2006
  12. larkinmj

    larkinmj New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Jun 1 2006, 07:46 PM) [snapback]264327[/snapback]</div>
    I'll second that one :(
     
    #12 larkinmj, Jun 1, 2006
  13. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    what did you call me? some kind of moron? hahaha.

    not sure but

    new & improved
    Jumbo (wheat) minis
     
    #13 Tideland Prius, Jun 1, 2006
  14. larkinmj

    larkinmj New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sufferin' Prius Envy @ Jun 1 2006, 07:42 PM) [snapback]264326[/snapback]</div>
    Rick posted a good definition of "liberal" on another thread:

    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rick Auricchio @ Jun 1 2006, 04:19 PM) [snapback]264202[/snapback]</div>
    I concur with that definition; hence, a liberal would be a freethinker, QED.


    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jared2 @ Jun 1 2006, 11:30 AM) [snapback]264024[/snapback]</div>
    This could have gone on the "favorite sayings thread":
    " 'Compassionate Conservative', that's kind of like having a gun rack on a Volvo." - Robin WIlliams
     
    #14 larkinmj, Jun 1, 2006
  15. Mystery Squid

    Mystery Squid Junior Member

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    normal Prius Chat FHOP Posters... :ph34r:

    fast Prius
    cheap gas
    hot fat chick
    a homosexual heterosexual :lol:
    big-tipping Rabbi :ph34r:
    terrible Prius Chat moderator



    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(larkinmj @ Jun 1 2006, 04:13 PM) [snapback]264199[/snapback]</div>
    better yet, post up something as meaningful as military service, for what YOU'VE done for the anti-war effort... Is your picture in some paper somewhere leading a huge rally? Have you marched onto the Capitol? Staged a 'die in'?
     
    #15 Mystery Squid, Jun 1, 2006
  16. larkinmj

    larkinmj New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mystery Squid @ Jun 1 2006, 10:35 PM) [snapback]264414[/snapback]</div>
    Actually, my picture has been in the paper. However, my question was not directed to you.
     
    #16 larkinmj, Jun 1, 2006
  17. Mystery Squid

    Mystery Squid Junior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(larkinmj @ Jun 1 2006, 10:41 PM) [snapback]264421[/snapback]</div>
    oh? for what? ...and is it a picture of you standing behind a podium shouting, waving your finger in the air a-la Goebbels? ...or amidst a crowd mindlessly chanting something amongst the lines of, "NO WAR, NO WAY, NO BUSH!"? ...and so what if it wasn't directed towards me, one might think the relevant actions of a fervent anti-war disciple would be something to bolster, not tuck away within the layers of liberal fat folds... :ph34r:
     
    #17 Mystery Squid, Jun 1, 2006
  18. amazingarthur

    amazingarthur New Member

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    Here's a couple of my favorites....

    Rap Music
    Republican Leadership
     
    #18 amazingarthur, Jun 1, 2006
  19. jared2

    jared2 New Member

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    fast food
    straight priest
     
    #19 jared2, Jun 2, 2006
  20. larkinmj

    larkinmj New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mystery Squid @ Jun 1 2006, 10:54 PM) [snapback]264434[/snapback]</div>
    Didn't you post something awhile ago about how you were retiring from PC? You have something in common with your f_buddy Bush- can't believe anything he says, either.
    BTW, we know how you get a kick out of flouting the line of decency, but comparing anyone to Goebbels goes beyond just offensive, a--hole.
     
    #20 larkinmj, Jun 2, 2006
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