Word Confusion: Oxymoron versus Paradox

Posted July 6, 2023 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

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It’s very much a word confusion with oxymoron vs paradox, as both are about contradictions.

An oxymoron is all about two words that contradict each other (and not a contradictory person), i.e., lead balloon, civil war, only choice, minor crisis, less is more, etc.

A paradox can seem to be true but is not, or then again, it can be true. What a paradox!

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Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Oxymoron	Paradox
“Illegal Asylum Seeker” is an Oxymoron was a sign at the Refugee Action Protest, 27 July 2013, Melbourne, Australia, by Takver and is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — They make a good point — everyone does have the right to seek asylum.	The Grandfather Paradox is my own work.
Part of Grammar:
Noun Plural: oxymorons, oxymora	Noun Plural: paradoxes
A combination of contradictory or incongruous words Something (such as a concept) that is made up of contradictory or incongruous elements	A tenet contrary to received opinion An argument that apparently derives self-contradictory conclusions by valid deduction from acceptable premises A situation, person, or thing that combines contradictory features or qualities [temporal paradox] A hypothetical contradiction of cause-and-effect within a timeline that results from traveling back in time [Archaic] An opinion or statement contrary to commonly accepted opinion True A seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true False A self-contradictory and false statement, especially one arising from seemingly acceptable premises and correct logical argument A self-contradictory statement that at first seems true
Examples:
Faith unfaithful kept him falsely true. It was a cruel kindness. That fashionable rhetorical novelty, the humblebrag, is used too often by the candidate. He calls himself a “bleeding-heart conservative”. I’ll have the jumbo shrimp. We watched the Night of the Living Dead last night. Ooh, that is icy hot! It was a bittersweet moment. “Why, then, O brawling love! O loving hate!” (Shakespeare).	The enemy of my enemy is my friend. A potentially serious conflict between quantum mechanics and the general theory of relativity is known as the information paradox. The mingling of deciduous trees with elements of desert flora forms a fascinating ecological paradox. Robert A. Heinlein’s time travel story “By His Bootstraps” incorporates the bootstrap paradox. In a paradox, he has discovered that stepping back from his job has increased the rewards he gleans from it. It’s a strange paradox that people who say you shouldn’t criticize the government criticize it as soon as they disagree with it. “For the actors, the goal was a paradox: real emotion, produced on cue” (Pierpont). “Again and again, he returns in his writing to the paradox of a woman who is superior to the men around her by virtue of social class though considered inferior to them on account of her gender” (Eagleton). Less is more is a paradox often repeated in the arts and other fields. It is a paradox of healthy grief that we must work at it while surrendering to it. In the media the candidate was called a paradox — an unpopular populist. I said in my alarm, Every man is a liar!
Derivatives:
Adjective: oxymoronic	Adjective: paradoxal, paradoxical Adverb: paradoxically Noun: paradoxology
History of the Word:
Mid-17th century from the Greek oxumōron, neuter (used as a noun) of oxumōros meaning pointedly foolish, from oxus (sharp) + mōros (foolish).	Mid-16th century originally denoting a statement contrary to accepted opinion, via the late Latin from the Greek paradoxon meaning contrary (opinion), neuter adjective used as a noun, from para- (distinct from) + doxa (opinion).

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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