It’s Oxymora, Idiotsavants, not Oxymorons
Oxymora from A to F
A
- A Fine Mess, title of a movie
- abundant poverty
- academic sorority
- academic fraternity
- a cappella with music
- accidentally on purpose
- accurate estimate
- accurate rumors
- accurate stereotype
- acrophobic mountain-climbers
- act naturally
- active retirement
- acute apathy
- acute dullness
- advanced BASIC
- advanced beginner
- affirmative action
- affordable housing
- aging yuppie
- agree to disagree
- agroforestry
- agrosilviculture
- agrosilvopastoral
- A Hard Day’s Night, song title
- airline food
- airline schedules
- a little big
- a little pregnant
- almost always
- almost candid
- almost certain
- almost exactly
- almost impossible
- almost never
- almost perfect
- almost persuaded
- almost pregnant
- almost safe
- almost suddenly
- almost surprised
- almost totally
- Alone Together, title of a book written by Elena Bonner (1986), widow of Nobel Peace
Prize recipient Andrei Sakharov
- amateur expert
- American culture
- American education
- American English
- American Honda
- amicable divorce
- among the first
- Amtrak schedule
- anarchy rules
- angry patient
- anonymous colleague
- anticipated serendipity
- anticipating the unanticipated
- anxious patient
- apathetically urged
- apathetic interest
- approximate solution
- approximately equal
- arms limitation
- army intelligence
- arrogant humility
- artificial intelligence
- astronomically small
- athletic scholarship
- Aunt Jemima Light
- authoritarian anarchy
- auto pilot
- awfully good
B
- baby grand (piano)
- Back to the Future, name of a movie
- bad health
- bad luck
- balanced insanity
- balding hair
- bankrupt millionaire
- barely dressed
- battle ready
- benevolent despot
- benign neglect
- better than new
- beyond infinity
- big sip
- binging on moderation
- biomortia (living dead)
- bipartisan cooperation
- birth control
- birthday suit
- bittersweet
- black and white in color (The Washington Post, "Book World", February 9, 1992)
- black gold
- black light
- blameless culprit
- blending family (when step-parents and their children try to have “a life” in agreement)
- blind eye
- blue rose
- border control
- brave politician
- brave wimp
- brief political speech
- brief survey
- brilliantly dull
- British gourmet food
- bright night
- bright shade
- budget deficit
- bug-free code (computer)
- build down
- bull riding
- business casual
- business ethics
C
- calculated spontaneity
- California freeway/expressway
- California culture
- California style
- calm storm
- calm winds
- camping resort
- casual chic, used in “Calvin & Hobbes” (March 24, 1995): “A spotted tie is just the thing when
you’re wearing stripes! Tigers have a natural flair for casual chic!”
- casual formality
- casual intimacy
- casual sex
- casually concerned
- cat fish
- cat proof
- cavalier concern
- Central Intelligence Agency
- centrally-planned economy
- certainly unsure
- chaotic organization
- cheap gas
- cheerful pessimist
- cheerful undertaker
- cheerfully mournful
- cheerfully cynical
- Cherokee Pioneer (name of U.S. car)
- chic (geek chic, nerd chic, sloppy chic, trend chic) [based on the sloppy way some people are dressing in tech-work places].
- child proof
- chilling fever
- Chinese chop suey
- Christian militia
- Christian Scientists
- Church of Scientology
- CIA cooperation
- civil disobedience
- civil engineer
- civil servants
- civil service
- civil strife; spoken by Casca in “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare
- civil war
- civilized warfare
- Classic New Homes
- classic rock & roll
- clean air
- clean coal
- clean dirt
- clean kill
- clean oil
- clean toilet
- clear as mud
- clearly ambiguous
- clearly confused
- clearly confusing
- clearly misunderstood
- clearly obscure
- clever fool
- Clinton leadership
- Clinton’s changing-political positions: “He talks right and runs left.” (Bob Dole)
- Clinton principles
- cluster bomb
- coal-mine safety
- co-ed fraternity
- co-ed sorority
- cold as hell
- cold hotdog
- cold sweat
- cold toast
- college education
- college student
- combative apology
- commercial art
- committee decision
- committee schedule
- common sense
- communist party
- comparatively unique
- compassionate editor
- completed research
- completed website
- completely educated
- completely unfinished
- computer science
- computer security
- completely succinct in-depth (speech, article, etc.)
- compulsory volunteers
- Congressional accountability (U.S.)
- Congressional action (U.S.)
- Congressional cooperation (U.S.)
- Congressional ethics (U.S.)
- Congressional responsibility (U.S.)
- Congressional wisdom (U.S.)
- conscripted volunteer
- consensual rape
- conservative liberal
- considerate boss
- consistent discrepancies
- consistent uncertainties
- consistently inconsistent (heard on CNN from a Russian reporter referring to ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, “Zhirinovsky is consistently inconsistent8")
- conspicuous absence
- conspicuously absent
- constant change
- constant infrequent
- constant variable
- constructive ambiguity
- constructive criticism
- constructive negativity
- contra aid
- contra assistance
- controlled enthusiasm
- controlled-market economy
- controlled skeptic
- convenience store
- conventional wisdom
- corporate conscience
- corporate planning
- correctional institution
- cosmology is in chaos
- corporate family
- corporate planning
- criminal justice
- criminal system
- crisis management
- cruel kindness
- cryocaustic
- current history
- curved line
- customer satisfaction
- customer service
D
- daily special
- dangerously safe
- dead right
- deafening silence
- deaf-piano tuner
- death benefits
- debugged program
- deeper high
- defensive strike
- definite maybe
- degradable plastic
- deliberately thoughtless
- deliberate mistake
- deliberate speed
- delicious torment-Ralph Waldo Emerson
- demanding patient
- Department of the Interior (U.S., responsible for out-door realms)
- designer beer
- designer jeans
- desktop publishing
- devout atheist
- diet icecream
- diligent sloth
- diminished confidence
- diminutive giants
- direct circumvention
- disaster preparedness
- disciplined gluttony
- disco music
- disposable income
- distant relatives
- Divided Unity, author Andreas Glaeser; a book about the unity of Germany
- divorce court
- Dodge Ram
- divorce court
- dollar value
- domestic cooperation
- down escalator
- down elevator
- dress pants
- driving pleasure
- dry creek
- dry ice
- dry humor (British, dry humour)
- dry lake
- dull acupuncturists
- dull roar
- dull shine
- dynamic monotone
- dynamic stability
- “Dying is a part of life.”
E
- easy labor (childbirth)
- easy payments
- easy task
- easy to follow directions
- economic forecast
- economic reform
- economic stability
- educated consumer
- educated guess
- educational administration
- educational television
- elected king
- elementary calculus
- elevated subway
- elite rabble
- eloquent silence
- energetic exhaustion
- enough time
- entertaining sermon
- enthusiastic indifference
- enthusiasm (luke-warm enthusiasm)
- equal justice
- equal opportunity
- ergo-friendly keyboard (computer)
- ergonomic keyboard
- eschew obfuscation
- essential luxury
- eternal life
- ethical hackers
- ethnic cleansing
- European Community
- evaporated milk
- even-odd
- evolutionary fact
- evolutionary technology
- exact estimate
- exact estimation: “chronoscopy is the observation and exact estimation of time.”
- executive secretary
- expected serendipity
- expected surprise
- explicit innuendo
- explicitly ambiguous
- express bus
- express mail
- express ways (same as “freeways”)
- expressive silence
- extensive briefing
- extinct life
- extremely average
- extremely bland
- extremely neutral
- eyes wide shut
F
- faculty cooperation
- faculty understanding
- fail safe
- fairly explicit
- fairly obvious
- fair reporting
- false fact (facts)
- family vacation
- famous-anonymous (writers, poets, etc.)
- farewell reception
- fast idle
- fast-mail service
- fast food
- fast turtle
- fast waiter
- fat-free cream cheese
- faultily faultless
- fearful bravery -William Shakespeare
- federal budget
- fiber glass
- fiery ice
- fighting for peace
- filing system
- final conclusion
- final version
- finally again
- financially strong savings and loan associations and banks
- fire water
- firm estimate
- firm maybe
- first annual
- first conclusions
- first deadline
- first-strike defense
- fish farm
- flat-busted (breasted)
- flexible ethics
- flexible freeze (in economics)
- flood control
- floppy disk
- football scholarship
- found missing
- foreign policy continuity
- free love
- free prisoner
- free society
- free with purchase
- freezer burn
- fresh cheese
- fresh dried fruit
- fresh frozen
- fresh-frozen jumbo shrimp
- fresh prunes
- fresh raisins
- fresh yogurt
- fried roast
- friendly argument
- friendly competitor
- friendly divorce
- friendly enemy/enemies
- friendly fire (from one’s own military side); formerly, or officially, referred to as “fratricide”.
- friendly fire (forests, etc.)
- friendly rocket death
- friendly suit (legal)
- friendly takeover
- friendly war
- front end
- frozen food
- Frugal Gourmet
- full service
- full-time hobby
- functional illiterate
- future history
- fuzzy logic
| G-O
| P-S
| T-Z
| Quotations
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