Paradoxes and Oxymorons

[chrystalclear]

I would hope that someone could explain what a paradox and an oxymoron are. I have never really understanded what they mean, and I would appreciate it a lot. Also, if there are any other words that are constantly confused with these ones, can someone name them and describe their meanings?  

[The Man who was Thursday]

chrystalclear

I would hope that someone could explain what a paradox and an oxymoron are. I have never really understanded what they mean, and I would appreciate it a lot. Also, if there are any other words that are constantly confused with these ones, can someone name them and describe their meanings?

A paradox is an event or set of events that cannot (co)exist. These are examples of paradoxes:

This sentence is false.

The following sentence is false.
The previous sentence is true.

Going back in time and killing an ancestor prior to your birth (assuming time is constrained to only one flow)

An oxymoron is a phrase which seems to contradict itself but doesn't, really. Examples:

Jumbo Shrimp
Current History
Military Intelligence  

[chrystalclear]

It makes sense, but it hurts your head. gonk  

[Elanchana]

An oxymoron is two opposite words together.
A paradox is a phrase (more than two words) that contradicts itself but makes sense.  

[joe-dude667]

Ezra Pound

Military Intelligence

That really made me laugh. rofl mrgreen  

[The Man who was Thursday]

Elanchana

An oxymoron is two opposite words together.
A paradox is a phrase (more than two words) that contradicts itself but makes sense.

Actually a paradox doesn't necessarily make sense--in fact it often doesn't.  

[Silver and Silence]

Jumbo Shrimp, Extra Large Petite, Iced Tea...  

[mr1989foster]

An oxymoron doesn't always contradict itself, it can sometimes just be two opposite words in close proximity to each other (generally within a sentence):

A light shone from the otherwise dark house.  

[Ame Yuki Kaze]

A great example of a paradox was explained in Ray Bradbury's A Sound of Thunder. Eckels, the man who went on the dinosaur hunt asked the guide if they saw themselves in the past and saw how the hunt turned out.

"But if you come back this morning in Time," said Eckels eagerly, you must've bumped into us, our Safari! How did it turn out? Was it successful? Did all of us get through-alive?"

Travis and Lesperance gave each other a look.

"That'd be a paradox," said the latter. "Time doesn't permit that sort of mess-a man meeting himself. When such occasions threaten, Time steps aside. Like an airplane hitting an air pocket. You felt the Machine jump just before we stopped? That was us passing ourselves on the way back to the Future. We saw nothing. There's no way of telling if this expedition was a success, if we got our monster, or whether all of us - meaning you, Mr. Eckels - got out alive."

Eckels smiled palely.  

[here_in_heart]

My favorite oxymoron: Microsoft Works.  

[Dante Omura]

I never really could explain them but I knew how to spot them. Oxymorons and Paradoxes I mean. xd  

[Litia_Echo]

here_in_heart

My favorite oxymoron: Microsoft Works.

xd That is mine as well.  

[Slappy the Ninja]

Hey! I like Microsoft!  

[play it loud]

Emotional Shinobi

Hey! I like Microsoft!

That's beyond the point, it was only an oxymoron... ;]  

[MyOwnBestCritic]

Paradoxes are fun biggrin

For example, the opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a truth can be another truth.

I know that I know nothing.

Deep down, he's very shallow.

If you went back in time and killed your gradfather (before your dad/mom was born), then would you exist? Logic says no. But then who killed your grandfather? Nobody. So he isn't dead. So you still exist, and you still kill him. But...

Hehe, Microsoft Works. Although I like Microsoft, it's still tremendously funny smile