An OXYMORON is a combination of contradictory words that are stuck together in a way that make sense together.
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EXAMPLE
We are eating jumbo shrimp for dinner.
The words ”jumbo” and ”shrimp” are contradictory terms, but when stuck together they seem to make sense. Jumbo shrimp is a type of bigger-sized shrimp.
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I will make an educated guess.
These two words are also contradictory. If you were educated on the matter than it wouldn’t be a guess. Right?
But, this is a phrase often used and we all know what is means. It means that you will use your knowledge that you learned to make a guess.
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The police officer gave the man one choice.
The word “choice” means that you may choose between things, but there seems to be only only one option, so it isn’t much of a choice.
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A PARADOX is an EXTENDED OXYMORON. It is when the contradictory elements (words, phrases, ideas) appear nearby in text or speech. It is a statement that appears on the surface to be contradictory, but actually reveals a truth of some kind.
EXAMPLES
Nobody goes to that restaurant, it always too crowded.
This is a PARADOX because it contains two contradictory elements that appear close to each other.
How can the restaurant be crowded all the time if nobody goes there? However, we understand what the speaker means: It is hard to get a table, so why try?
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Do not go into the water until you’ve learned to swim.
This is a PARADOX because it is impossible to learn to swim without going into the water. However, the speaker is obviously trying to keep someone away from the water at this point in time.
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To have peace, we must go to war.
This is a PARADOX because the two ideas about going to war and having peace are contradictory to one another, but it makes sense that some countries must fight off oppressors to be left alone and have peace.
PARADOX is different from ANTITHESIS in that ANTITHESIS deals with opposites, and PARADOX deals with things that are true, but on the surface seem untrue.
