Situational Oxymora

We think of an oxymoron as two words that contradict each other, either literally or figuratively.  But sometimes an event or situation can contain a contradiction, either in a real sense or just in the language.  The sentence describing such a thing is what I call a situational oxymoron.  Here are a few examples.

…the optimist who carries an umbrella.

…the “No Smoking” sign in McDonald’s.

…the soccer mom driving an SUV.

…a TV concert with closed-captions.

…a priest offering marital advice.

…a traffic jam on a expressway.

…the comic strip “Mary Worth.”

…a rose colored sink.

…pants that breath easily.

…a pacifist wearing socks.

…a blind man saying, “I see what you mean.”

…a noble count bad at math.

…someone who owns an exercise machine and a riding mower.

…a person prone to long walks.

…a ham operator who is a vegetarian (or an orthodox Jew).

…a soldier trained to be a medic.

(Also see The Best Oxymora List.)

This entertaining page is just one of the many humorous pages showing how English language words can be fun, often being the center of jokes, witticisms, puns, and jest and bringing smiles if not laughter to the comedian in each of us.