Dictionary.com defines “oxymoron” as “a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in ‘cruel kindness’ or ‘to make haste slowly.’ ”
One of our readers sent us an example of a Grovarian “oxymoron” which is illustrated below:
Photographed in Ocean Grove by an astute observer. 5/3/21
Main Avenue near Delaware. 2020. Paul Goldfinger photo (and I don’t get hazard pay). Blogfinger.net
If you have ever found a safe-crossing “stop” sign at an OG intersection, you know that you can’t trust it. So we guess that our writer is thinking of that sort of contradictory messaging as revealed in his photo on top.
And you might know that very few of our intersections on Main Ave. have been blessed with such stop signs.
But if you are a linguist or even an English major who knows what a “locution” is, especially if “incongruous” is used in the same sentence you might object to our reporter’s use of the word “oxymoron.” Maybe you would prefer “sarcasm” instead.
I always found the word “oxymoron” to be amusing, especially in high school. But “oxymoron” is if two words are used together to produce opposite results, as in “awful good.”
In my high school words were important. There was almost a fist fight over one student calling another a “nonagenarian.”
Maybe you think that the green sign above means “contradictory,” but you get the idea.
In any case, if you agree with the “traffic control” in the Grove, you are quite correct in being a bit of an oxymoron.
RICK AND THE KEENS: