ooo: An Assortment of Oxymorons: list

Many of these aren't very good oxymorons, but most of them were cited as oxymorons in one context or another. (Also, calling many of them oxymorons insults various people and groups of people; such insults are not intended to represent my opinion about those people and groups.) About three quarters of the items here come from a couple of anonymously email-circulated oxymoron lists. For more information about types of oxymorons, see column ooo.

  • Act naturally
  • Acute dullness
  • Advanced BASIC
  • Airline food
  • Almost exactly
  • Almost perfect
  • Alone together
  • Athletic scholarship
  • Bad health
  • Bittersweet
  • Blameless culprit
  • British fashion
  • Business ethics
  • Butthead
  • California culture
  • Cardinal sin
  • Childproof
  • Christian Scientists
  • Clearly confused
  • Clearly misunderstood
  • Computer jock
  • Computer security
  • Conservative liberal
  • Constant variable
  • Definite maybe
  • Diet ice cream
  • Divorce court
  • Deliberately thoughtless
  • Dry wine
  • Even odds
  • Exact estimate
  • Extensive briefing
  • Fish farm
  • Found missing
  • Freezer burn
  • Fresh frozen
  • Friendly takeover
  • Shyy-oybja rerpgvba (off-color; rot-13 encoded)
  • Full-size thumbnails
  • Genuine imitation
  • Good grief
  • Government organization
  • Hard water
  • Holy war
  • Home office
  • Honorable Justice Clarence Thomas
  • Idiot savant
  • Instant classic
  • Intense apathy
  • Jumbo shrimp
  • Justifiably paranoid
  • Larger half
  • Least favorite
  • Legally drunk
  • Linear curve
  • Liquid crystals
  • Liquid gas
  • Living dead
  • Married life
  • Microsoft Works
  • Mild interest
  • Military intelligence
  • Minor miracle
  • Modern history
  • New classic (see also "Instant classic")
  • Non-alcoholic beer
  • Nondairy creamer
  • Normal deviation
  • "Now, then..."
  • Oddly appropriate
  • Old news
  • Only choice
  • Open secret
  • Original copies
  • Passive aggression
  • Peace force
  • Plastic glasses
  • Player coach
  • Political science
  • Postal service
  • Pretty ugly
  • Qualified success
  • Quality television
  • Randomly organized
  • Rap music
  • Reagan's memoirs
  • Real potential
  • Really imaginary
  • Religious tolerance
  • Resident alien
  • Rock opera
  • Rolling stop
  • Safe sex
  • Same difference
  • Sanitary landfill
  • Silent scream
  • Simply superb
  • Slightly pregnant
  • Small crowd
  • Soft rock
  • Software documentation
  • Sure unpredictable
  • Sweet sorrow
  • Synthetic natural gas
  • Taped live (I once saw a TV show that flashed the word "LIVE!" across the bottom of the screen, and a moment later added, "Taped earlier.")
  • Temporary tax increase
  • Terribly enjoyable
  • Terribly pleased
  • Tight slacks
  • Toronto Life
  • Tragicomedy
  • Twelve-ounce pound cake
  • Unbiased opinion
  • Unpleasant nostalgia
  • Unsung hero
  • User-friendly computer
  • Vaguely aware
  • Very unique
  • Victimless crime
  • War games
  • Working vacation

Back to column ooo.