Oxymoron vs Idiom - What's the difference?
oxymoron | idiom |
A figure of speech in which two words with opposing meanings are used together intentionally for effect.
* A famous example is Milton, Paradise Lost , Book 1, ll. 63-4:
* Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet , Act 1. Scene 1, in which Romeo utters nine oxymora in just six lines of soliloquy:
(general) A contradiction in terms.
A manner of speaking, a way of expressing oneself.
A language or dialect.
Specifically, a particular variety of language; a restricted dialect used in a given historical period, context etc.
* 2010 , (Christopher Hitchens), "The Other'' L-Word", ''Vanity Fair , 13 Jan 2010:
An artistic style (for example, in art, architecture, or music); an instance of such a style.
An expression peculiar to or characteristic of a particular language, especially when the meaning is illogical or separate from the meanings of its component words.
* 2008 , Patricia Hampl, “You’re History”, in Patricia Hampl and Elaine Tyler May (editors), Tell Me True: Memoir, History, and Writing a Life , Minnesota Historical Society, ISBN 9780873516303,
(programming) A programming construct or phraseology generally held to be the most efficient, elegant or effective means to achieve a particular result or behavior.
* {{quote-book, 2005, Magnus Lie Hetland, Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional, page=100, isbn=159059519X
, passage=I have to use the same assignment and call to raw_input in two places. How can I avoid that? I can use the while True/break idiom :
As nouns the difference between oxymoron and idiom
is that oxymoron is oxymoron (figure of speech) while idiom is idiom.oxymoron
English
(wikipedia oxymoron)Noun
(en-noun)- No light, but rather darkness visible
- Serv'd only to discover sights of woe
- Why then, O brawling love', O ' loving hate ,
- O anything, from nothing first create,
- O heavy lightness'! ' Serious vanity !
- Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms,
- Feather of lead', '''bright smoke''', '''cold fire''', ' sick health ,
- Still-waking sleep , that is not what it is!
- This love feel I, that feel no love in this.
Usage notes
* Historically, an (term) was "a (paradox) with a point",Jebb, Sir Richard (1900).Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part III: The Antigone]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. where the contradiction seems absurd at first glance, and yet is deliberate, its purpose being to underscore a point or to draw attention to a concealed point. The modern usage of (term) as a synonym for the simpler contradiction in terms is considered incorrect by some speakers and writers, and is perhaps best avoided in certain contexts. (See also the [[w:oxymoron, Wikipedia article].)
Derived terms
* oxymoronic * oxymoronically * oxymoronicnessSee also
*References
External links
*List of oxymorons*
Lee’s Complete Oxymoron List], with discussion of classification ([http://web.archive.org/web/20080617020051/http://lee.critesclan.com/oxymorons.html archive) English autological terms English oxymorons
idiom
English
(wikipedia idiom)Noun
(en-noun)- Many parents and teachers have become irritated to the point of distraction at the way the weed-style growth of "like" has spread through the idiom of the young.
page 134:
- You’re history , we say . Surely it is an American idiom . Impossible to imagine a postwar European saying, “You’re history. . . . That’s history,” meaning fuhgeddaboudit, pal.
Synonyms
* (phrase) expression (loosely), form of words (loosely), phrase (loosely)Derived terms
* idiolect * idiomatic * idiomatical * idiomaticallySee also
*External links
*American idioms- a comprehensive list of idioms, browsable through alphabetical links. Includes parts of speech, definitions and example sentences. *
English and American Idioms- RSS subscription channel *
Glossary of Linguistics*
Today's English Idioms at GoEnglish.com* *