An oxymoron is a figure of speech used to describe what we do when we put two contradictory words together. We use them all the time and we don’t even think about it.
We started talking about this the other day when my daughter was telling us about a customer (Cerrin is a Customer Service Rep) who said to her, “I need an exact estimate on the part.” What? How can it be an estimate if it has to be an exact number?
So, with a little bit of thinking we came up with a few more we’ve heard:
Pastor Johnson is our permanent guest minister.
That dog is pretty ugly.
When the tree fell on the house it was a minor disaster.
I’m thinking about taking a working vacation.
My new lamp is a genuine imitation.
I’m so tired I’m half dead.
Fun, aren’t they. Have you heard any good ones lately?
Update: Michael (A Few Minutes With Michael) came up with a few:
live recording
jumbo shrimp
act naturally
random order
unbiased opinion
This is a fun post! Pretty ugly is used a lot here in the South.
Well, no offense to your daughter, who I’m sure is the exception to the rule, but in general I find “good customer service” to be an oxymoron – specifically on the phone. Which is what I deal with all day long – following up with customer service reps on behalf of our clients’ investment and insurance issues.
I use pretty ugly myself
I’ve got a few for you:
live recording
jumbo shrimp
act naturally
random order
unbiased opinion