Tuesday, April 19, 2011

P is for Paradox: What is the Difference Between a Paradox and an Oxymoron?

For those of you following along, you probably guessed that today I would write about paradox for the A-Z Blogging Challenge. A discussion of paradox naturally follows a post about oxymoron, which can be found here: O is for Oxymoron.

So, what is a paradox? What is the difference between a paradox and an oxymoron?

A paradox and an oxymoron are similar. A paradox is a statement or event that seems to contradict itself although it is, or can be, true. A paradoxical statement defies intuition.

Although there are no fast rules that distinguish between the two (several sources I referenced for this post consider the words paradox and oxymoron synonyms), there are discernible differences.

A paradox is a statement or even a paragraph that describes a contradiction whereas an oxymoron is a combination of contradictory terms, usually just two words (go here for a list of oxymoron examples).

One of my favorite literary examples of a paradox is from George Orwell’s Animal Farm: “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”

Sources: Literary terms and definitions, DifferenceBetween.net, CliffNotes.com
Posted by Langley Cornwell at 6:24 PM
Labels: , , , , , ,

9 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 19, 2011 at 6:27 PM

    You are giving me refresher English and I appreciate it.

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  2. UnknownApril 19, 2011 at 6:31 PM

    I have to agree with K. I'd forgotten the names of the phrases I'm sure I've written since I was in school. lol

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  3. Gail M Baugniet - AuthorApril 19, 2011 at 6:49 PM

    I always thought "more unique" was an oxymoron.
    I like your comparison of the word to paradox.

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  4. AnonymousApril 19, 2011 at 6:57 PM

    A refresher is always a good thing. It would be interesting to have to take the final exam--no studying--for the toughest class that each of us took back in college. I'm guessing that I'd do quite a bit of stumbling.

    My A-Z Blogging “P” post is right here: http://www.word-nerd-speaks.com/2011/04/pierre-pradervand-gentle-art-of.html

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  5. shellyApril 19, 2011 at 10:09 PM

    Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

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  6. Karen M. PetersonApril 19, 2011 at 10:24 PM

    Interesting. It never really occurred to me that "paradox" and "oxymoron" were similar, but I guess they are.

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  7. The Writing GoddessApril 20, 2011 at 1:13 AM

    "And all the children are above average." Or is that just stupidity? :-)

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  8. ShelliApril 20, 2011 at 5:58 PM

    Great explanation, and great example. I'll be able to use the two terms properly now. :)

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  9. A Girl and Her eBooksApril 20, 2011 at 6:58 PM

    Another great post!

    ReplyDelete

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