Sandy Supposes....

OXYMORON..Seriously Funny

PROMPT: Random Fact Friday--- Please pick one fact from the link www.the factsite.com/2015/04/100-mind-blowing-facts.html. Discuss what you think about it, and why you chose it.

         Ah, there are so many facts.... I find it amusing that the national animal of Scotland is a unicorn. Imagine a mythical creature in the land of kilts, tartan, and brogue. This summer, I'd like to verify if catnip is indeed ten-times more effective at repelling mosquitoes than DEET, the main substance in insect repellents. A hot cuppa is my beverage of choice, and I am indebted to Thomas Sullivan who accidentally invented the tea bag in 1904. All of these facts are now future ammunition for a game of Trivial Pursuit.          

         I'm fascinated by words; their meanings, their uses, and their origins. I chose to concentrate on this factoid; "The word 'oxymoron' is itself an oxymoron. This is because it derives from Ancient Greek where 'oxy' means 'sharp' and 'moros' means 'stupid'." I consulted good ol' Wikipedia, and learned that oxymoron is from the Greek and means 'sharp/dull'. It is a figure of speech in which incongruous or seemingly contradictory terms appear side by side; a compressed paradox. All of us employ oxymorons everyday. They are part of our speech. How often do we hear 'act naturally', 'alone together', 'random order', 'peace force', 'found missing', 'original copy', 'sight unseen', 'clearly misunderstood', 'deafening silence', and 'ill health'? It's been quoted, but I do not know the source, that "a paradox is a truth standing on its head to get our attention." People are complex, and this is readily apparent in their language.

         Shakespeare liked oxymorons. One of his most famous is " sweet sorrow". We read them all the time in news reports. There's 'free trade', 'deliberate haste', 'pretty ugly', 'genuine imitation', 'exact estimate', 'static flow', and 'recorded live'.

         Comedians understand and utilize the oxymoron. George Carlin had a point; "How is it possible to have a civil war?" Woody Allen bemoaned, "Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering-- and it's all over much too soon." Rodney Dangerfield explained the complexities of a marriage. "We sleep in separate rooms, we have dinner apart, we take separate vacations. We're doing everything we can to keep our marriage together."

         To be deceptively honest, I believe my writing benefits from unbiased opinion and true fiction. I find an oxymoron seriously funny.