Name: What is an oxymoron? Definition and 20 funny examples!
Uploaded: 2016-10-18T05:28:08.000Z
Duration: 13 min 5 s
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Ah. Hey, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on "20 English Oxymorons".

So, let's get right to it. An "oxymoron" is a figure of speech that has

two contradictory or opposite words appearing side by side. So, basically, it's a combination

of two words that really have opposite meanings, but we use them, you know, regularly in sentences

and phrases. So, the origin of the word "oxymoron" is from the Greek for "oxy" and "moron", which means

sharp and dull. "Dull" is the opposite of "sharp". So, you can have a sharp knife or

a dull knife. A dull knife doesn't cut very well. Right? Which itself is oxymoronic. So,

these combinations of words here are oxymoronic.

What I'm going to do in this video is first I will review every single one of the oxymorons.

So, if you are already a native English speaker, you can kind of just read the oxymorons with

me, get a good laugh, continue with your day, and watch whatever other cat videos you want

to watch today on YouTube. And if you are a non-native English speaker, after reviewing

everything, I'm going to go back one by one, and give a more detailed explanation. All

Number one: "alone together", "crash landing", "devout atheist", "exact estimate", "found missing",

"minor miracle", "old news", "only choice", "freezer burn", "growing smaller",

"jumbo shrimp", "loosely sealed", "loud whisper", "original copy", "same difference",

"seriously funny", "small crowd", "student teacher", "unbiased opinion", "working vacation". Okay.

Now, let's look at these one by one, and explain why they are oxymoronic. One: "alone together".

The word "alone" means to be by yourself, so how can you be alone when there's another

person or a group of people with you? You're not alone. You're with other people. Right?

A "crash landing". So, an airplane can land or it can crash. Right? So, these things are

opposites. "To crash" means to just smash into the ground, and "to land" typically means

to land smoothly with the plane, and to touch down with no problems. So, a crash landing

A "devout atheist". So, an atheist is a person who doesn't believe in God. The word "devout"

is an adjective that means highly devoted, usually in a spiritual sense. So, can an atheist

show, like, devotion to not believing in something? Usually, if you are a devout, for example,

a devout Christian or a devout Muslim or a devout Hindu - you show devotion to, you know,

your God or your Gods. Whereas an atheist doesn't really have a God or believe in God,

so they can't really have devotion for something. Right?

All right. An "exact estimate". An estimate is a guess, it's not exactly a precise figure.

So, if you go to the mechanic to fix your car and you ask: "How much money will this cost?"

and the mechanic says: "Probably $400-$450", that's the estimate. Now, "exact" means exactly

the number. You can't estimate exactly the number. You can only estimate a guess, or

"Found missing". So, if a child goes missing, they get lost or kidnapped from their parents,

and then they are found by the police, in the news people say:

"The child was found missing." But you found them, so they're not missing anymore. Right? Okay.

Next: "minor miracle". Going back to the religious term a little bit. A miracle is something

that cannot be explained by science. It's something that is so amazing that it goes

against the laws of nature. So, really, something is miraculous, it's amazing, incredible. It

can't be small, it can't be minor. It's something massive and huge. Right?

Next: "old news". "News" means things that are current, things that are happening now.

So, how can news be old? Maybe yesterday's news kind of, but really, the two terms collide

Next: "only choice". Now, "choice" means you have more than one option. Okay? If you only

have one choice, that's not a choice. So you can't have an only choice, you must have multiple

Next: "freezer burn". So freezer burn is what happens if you leave something in your freezer

for a very, very, very, very long time, let's say a pack of peas, you leave them there.

And you notice the little icicles start forming around the pack of peas, and you take them

out and you have to like wash off or wipe off all of the freezer burn. Now, "freezer",

cold; "burn", hot. So, "cold", "hot", in opposition to one another.

Next: "growing smaller". So, some people say, like: "Oh, my bank account is growing smaller."

It's becoming smaller, it is shrinking. So, "to grow" means to get bigger. You can't get

bigger smaller at the same time. It's kind of...Doesn't... It doesn't work.

Next: "jumbo shrimp". So, shrimp, the seafood is, you know, "shrimp" means small. So, how

can you have a jumbo of something that is small? Yes, they are bigger than a regular-size

shrimp, but the word "shrimp" means small, tiny. So, "jumbo shrimp" is a contradiction.

"Loosely sealed". If something is sealed, this means it is closed completely. You cannot,

like, open it. So, if you have peanut butter or if you have a bottle of wine, and, you

know, it's the first time that you... You have never opened it. It is sealed. When you

open it-pop-you hear that pop, it's not sealed anymore. Okay? So, "to be sealed" means to

be completely closed. Something that is loosely sealed is not sealed, so you cannot say: "Loosely sealed".

You can say: "Loosely closed, kind of open", maybe? All right?

A "loud whisper". A whisper is soft and quiet. It can't be loud. Okay? Like, it's a contradiction

An "original copy". I have an original copy of William Shakespeare's Hamlet or something.

So, no, you have an original or you have a copy. You can't have a copy of the original,

because there's only one original. If you have something that came after the original,

you have a copy. You don't have an original copy.

Next: "same difference". But if it's different, how can it be the same? Right?

"Seriously funny". Now, this one is debatable because you can say: "Okay, the word 'seriously'

can mean like 'really' or 'truly' in this situation." But when you think of something

being serious, it's not funny. It's very grave. So, if something is seriously funny, it's

like... It doesn't work. Again, it's an oxymoron.

Next: a "small crowd". A crowd is a group of people, typically a large group of people.

So, if you have a small crowd, you can't really say that it's a small crowd. It's a crowd.

Okay? I guess you can compare crowds and say, you know: "This crowd has 30 people, and this

crowd has 300 people", so maybe the 30-person crowd is smaller, but it's still a crowd.

And ask any one of those 30 people if they're comfortable - no. You can't have a small crowd.

A "student teacher". In university, people become teacher's assistants or, you know,

they teach while they are, you know, students or they help their professors with students

in their first year or second year .But a student, by virtue of the fact that they are

a student, shouldn't be able to be a teacher, a student teacher. You're a student or you're

An "unbiased opinion". So, "unbiased" means that, you know, there is nothing that is affecting

your opinion. Now, some people will argue that it's possible to have an unbiased opinion,

but everyone's opinion is coloured, is affected, is changed by their experience, by their knowledge,

by what they have experienced in their life. So, you can't really have an unbiased opinion

about something, because everyone has biases or biases. Is it biases or biases? You tell

And finally: a "working vacation". Vacation, away from work. Working vacation, it doesn't

really work. Okay? So, when you're on vacation, you're supposed to be relaxing away from work.

You're not supposed to be working, so it's a contradiction. But in the 21st century,

these types of vacations are, unfortunately, very common.

Okay, so if you would like to test your understanding of this material, of these 20 oxymorons, as

always, you can check out the quiz on www.engvid.com. And if you enjoyed the video,