OXYMORON is derived from:

the Ancient Greek:
      Oxus = "sharp"
      Moros = "dull"

"Oxymoron" = a sharp dullness or a foolish wise.

...a self contradicting phrase.



act naturally

advanced BASIC

almost done

alone together

anxious patient

Army intelligence

athletic scholarship

awful good

big baby

bittersweet

blind eye

boneless ribs

civil war

clearly misunderstood

conspicuous absence

crash landing

current history

deafening silence

definite maybe

devout atheist

Dry Ice

even odds

exact estimate

tarewell reception

found missing

freezer burn

genuine imitation

good grief

growing smaller

Government organization

guest host

icy hot

idiot savant

ill health

impossible solution

jumbo shrimp

legally drunk

living dead

loosely sealed

loud whisper

loyal opposition

negative growth

negative income

new classic

old news

one-man band

only choice

original copy

paper tablecloth

paper towel

Peace force

plastic silverware

poor health

pretty ugly

random order

recorded live

sanitary landfill

small crowd

soft rock

The Sound of Silence

steel wool

student teacher

terribly good

tight slacks

unbiased opinion

working vacation


I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

When large numbers of men are unable to find work, unemployment results.
            -- Calvin Coolidge

For those who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing they like.
            -- Abraham Lincoln

Ah well, they say its not as bad as they say it is.

That shoe fits him like a glove.

I wouldn't be paranoid if everyone didn't pick on me.

People have one thing in common: they are all different.

It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.
            -- Mark Twain

The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be.
            -- Paul Valery

When one has good health it is not serious to be ill.
            -- Francis Blanche

Is there life before death ?
            -- Belfast Graffito

Often it is fatal to live too long.
            -- Racine

The first condition of immortality is death.
            -- Stanislaw Lec

As famous as the unknown soldier.

Anyone who isn't confused here doesn't really know what's going on.

I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?
            -- Benjamin Disraeli

He lived his life to the end.

You always find something in the last place you look.

A woman met a man walking along the street wearing only one shoe. "Just lost a shoe ?" she asked. He answered, "Nope, just found one."

Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot; others transform a yellow spot into the sun.
            -- Pablo Picasso

Brain: an apparatus with which we think we think.
            -- Ambrose Bierce

You can observe a lot just by watchin'.
            -- Yogi Berra

In these matters the only certainty is that nothing is certain.
            -- Pliny the Elder

The English certainly and fiercely pride themselves in never praising themselves.
            -- Wyndham Lewis

I have made mistakes, but have never made the mistake of claiming I never made one.
            -- James G. Bennet

Hegel was right when he said that we learn from history that man can never learn anything from history.
            -- George Bernard Shaw

Trapped, like a trap in a trap.
            -- Dorothy Parker

I am not sincere, even when I say I am not.
            -- Jules Renard

You've no idea of what a poor opinion I have of myself, and how little I deserve it.
            -- W.S. Gilbert

Great Rules for writing from William Safire
in the New York Times:
Do not put statements in the negative form.
And don't start sentences with a conjunction.
It is incumbent on one to avoid archaisms.
If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.
De-accession euphemisms.
If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
Also, avoid awkward or affected alliteration.
Last, but not least, avoid cliché's like the plague.

I used to be indecisive, now I'm not sure.

Graffiti seen in Pompeii : Everyone writes on the walls but me.

Hypochondria is the one disease I have not got.

Procrastinate now!

I've told you for the fifty-thousandth time, stop exaggerating.

Young Man: Why do philosophers ask so many questions?
Old Philosopher: Why shouldn't philosophers ask so many questions?

"Who is the oldest inhabitant of this village?"
"We haven't got one; we had one, but he died three weeks ago."

"Hey, somebody cut the end off this rope!"

"Hey, Trixie, what's your earliest memory?" "Umm... I don't remember!"

There is only one difference between a madman and me.   I am not mad.
            -- Salvador Dali

Nobody goes to that restaurant anymore.   It's too crowded.

A hospital is no place to be sick.

A verbal contract isn't worth the paper its printed on.

I paid too much for it, but its worth it.