The word snoop - Ursula Dubosarsky 2009

Oxymorons
Is that another greek word?

Oxymoron. (Don’t you mean foxymoron? No, I mean oxymoron!) It’s one of those words you don’t forget once you’ve heard it. But what on earth does it mean?

Like lots of unusual words in English, it comes from the language of the ancient Greeks—oxys, which means “sharp,” and moros, which means “silly” or “dull.” It’s used to describe expressions that contain two opposite ideas—in other words, something that is “sharply dull.”

Hmm, maybe some examples would help. Has anyone ever said to you, “that’s old news”? This is an oxymoron because it’s contradicting itself—news can’t be old, because it’s new. And then there’s that song by Simon and Garfunkel, “The Sound of Silence.” How can silence have sound? So that’s an oxymoron too. And so is the cartoon character Charlie Brown’s favorite line—“Good grief!”

Writers have been using oxymorons for thousands of years, all over the world, in many languages and cultures. The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu said, “To lead the people, walk behind them,” and the English playwright William Shakespeare wrote, “I do believeher, though I know she lies.” The nineteenth-century French novelist Victor Hugo spoke of “the pleasure of being sad ,” and in the twentieth century, the American poet T. S. Eliot described the “pleasant whining of a mandolin.” Well, they all sound like very interesting gentlemen . . .

Because oxymorons have a way of grabbing your attention, you will often find them in advertising. You know, things like genuine imitation or seriously funny. Movie titles also use oxymorons to make you look twice—think of Back to the Future, Eyes Wide Shut, or True Lies.

And then there are those people who like to use oxymorons as a form of humor. Like your teacher might say, “I’ve got some lovely home-work for you today.” (Ha ha.) Or, “I want a compulsory volunteer to clean up the playground.” (Hilarious.) Well, you could always answer back, “Excuse me, you are clearly confused.”

I wonder why oxymorons are so appealing? Perhaps it’s because an oxymoron is really a kind of paradox—something that appears to be true and false at the same time. The world can sometimes seem so large and strange, and many human experiences just don’t make sense. As the great poet Walt Whitman wrote, “Do I contradict myself? Very well, then, I contradict myself. (I am large—I contain multitudes.)” (Gosh!)

Maybe an oxymoron is a way for a writer to express those mixed-up feelings—and hopefully for a reader to try to understand them. So next time you’re writing a story or a poem or a report on something, why don’t you try putting in an oxymoron or two?

In the meantime, try spotting the oxymorons on the next page in the story that the Word Snoop made up about a little dog.

A tragicomedy of a lost dog

A gigantic Chihuahua was hurrying slowly

along the soft, stony road. He came to

a low tower of delicious rotten turnips.

Daintily he wolfed them down. But

then his tummy felt as light as a bag of

cement, so he decided to have a long nap.

Instantly his owner finally arrived.

“Fluffy!” whispered his owner in a loud

voice, fondly pulling the dog’s hairless fur.

“You darling little monster. I think I might

have definitely missed you.”

Word Snoops, guess what time it is? That’s right—code time! I hope this one’s not too tricky for you. (Hint: Palindromes read forward and . . . ?)

TAHT YAS OT YPPAH YREV M ’ I

Answers

PALINDROMES

1. Dad

2. Pop

3. Redder

4. Kayak

5. Deed

6. Toot

7. Peep