109 Examples of Funny Oxymorons
Whether you know it or not, oxymorons are part of your regular vocabulary. Derived from the Greek words “oxy,” which means “Sharp or acute,” and “moros,” which means “dumb or dull,” an oxymoron is a combination of words that contradict themselves. So an oxymoron is actually an oxymoron. How about that?
The official Merriam-Webster definition of the word oxymoron states that an oxymoron is “a combination of contradictory or incongruous words.” Other common and funny oxymorons you might have heard include “act naturally,” “jumbo shrimp,” and “old news.” All these phrases consist of two opposite words that go together and somehow everyone understands what they mean.
Oxymorons have been in use for centuries, with the term first believed to have been coined sometime during the 17th century. One of the earliest known examples can be found in William Shakespeare’s classic Hamlet, where he writes “O heavy lightness! Serious vanity!” As for who came up with the phrase, there is a lot of conjecture. Some believe it was Edward Reynold, who in 1640 is believed to have written the words “mortibus vivimus,” which translates to “living death,” while others claim it was John Ray who coined the phrase in his 1678 book A Collection of English Proverbs. Whichever is true, oxymorons have been part of the English language for close to four hundred years.
These days, most people use oxymorons as a way to emphasize or highlight something. As they are often absurd, they can also be a popular source for puns and jokes. Funny oxymorons are a great way to add humor and playfulness to your everyday speech and give your prose a little comedy. They are so popular author Simon Brett and illustrator Paul Thomas released the book, Seriously Funny and Other Oxymorons, that is well worth a read.
To show how these contradictory words can cause you a good belly laugh, we have searched high and low to bring you some funny oxymorons that are part of modern pop culture. These include famous oxymorons used in everyday life to those spoken and sung in the movie and music industry. See how many of these you can fit into your next conversation.
Common Oxymoron Expression Used in Everyday Life
1. Act natural
2. Random order
3. Bittersweet
4. Grow smaller
5. Only choice
6. Civil War
7. Alone together
8. Working vacation
9. Bad luck
10. Definite possibility
11. Awfully good
12. Exact estimate
13. Student teacher
14. Old news
15. Weapons of peace
16. Original copy
17. Virtual reality
18. Plastic silverware
19. Jumbo shrimp
20. Negative income
21. True fiction
22. Poor health
23. Old boy
24. Awfully pretty
25. Found missing
26. Resident alien
27. Baggy tights
28. Deafening silence
29. Simply impossible
30. Crash landing
31. Silent scream
32. Genuine imitation
33. Big baby
34. Recent history
35. True lies
36. Cruel kindness
37. Open secret
38. Vegetarian meatballs
39. Online privacy
40. Clearly misunderstood
41. Unbiased opinion
42. Living dead
43. Small crowd
44. Controlled chaos
45. Good grief
46. Legally drunk
47. Soft rock
48. New classic
49. Dull roar
50. Sweet sorrow
51. Foolish wisdom
52. Extinct life
53. Synthetic natural gas
54. Passive aggressive
55. Even odds
56. Terribly pleased
57. Minor miracle
58. Seriously funny
59. Friendly fire
60. Definitely maybe
61. Taped live
62. Business ethics
63. Militant pacifistt
64. Exact estimate
65. Intense apathy
66. New tradition
67. Home office
68. Liquid gas
69. Long sleeve t-shirt
70. Numb sensation
71. Rolling stop
72. Same difference
73. Barely dressed
74. Almost done
Oxymoron Examples in Popular Culture
75. Urban Cowboy (1980 movie)
76. “Alone Together” by Fall Out Boy
77. “Begin Again” by Taylor Swift
78. Eyes Wide Shut (1999 movie)
79. Buried Alive (1999 movie)
80. “It’s, like, a safety bomb.” – Iggy from The Angel Experiment
81. “Hello, Goodbye” by the Beatles
82. Definitely, Maybe (2008 film)
83. “Cruel to Be Kind” by Nick Lowe
84. Night of the Living Dead (1968 film)
85. “The Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel
86. “Parting is such sweet sorrow” from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
87. Dead Man Walking (1985 movie)
88. “Forever Young” by Bob Dylan
89. “A Boy Named Sue” by Johnny Cash
90. “All your perfect imperfections” – John Legend lyrics from the song “All of Me”
91. Back To The Future (1985 movie)
92. “His honor rooted in dishonor stood, And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true,” – Alfred from Lord Tennyson’s Idylls of the King
93. “Bitter Sweet Symphony” by the Verve
94. Dead Again (1991 movie)
Funny Oxymoron Quotes From Famous People
95. “Women have to harness their power – it’s absolutely true. It’s just learning not to take the first no. And if you can’t go straight ahead, you go around the corner.” – Cher
96. “It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.” – Mark Twain
97. “You’d be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap.” – Dolly Parton
98. “It’s sick and twisted and violent. Other than that it is totally G-rated.” –
99. “A lot of people never use their initiative because no one told them to.” – Banksy
100. “Spare no expense to save money on this one.” – Samuel Goldwyn
101. “Life is indeed precious and I believe the death penalty helps to affirm that fact.” –
102. “Always live within your income, even if you have to borrow money to do so.” – Josh Billings
103. “I distinctly remember forgetting that.” – Clara Barton
104. “The best cure for insomnia is to get a lot of sleep.” – W. C. Fields
105. “We must believe in free will. We have no choice.” – Isaac Bashevis Singer
106. “If Lincoln were alive today he’d be turning over in his grave.” –
107. “The first condition of immortality is death.” – Stanislaw Jerzy Lec
108. “A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.” – Samuel Goldwyn
109. “Drive on the parkway, park in the driveway.” – George Carlin
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