Origin of Oxymoron Where does the term come from? Oxymoron is a combination of two Greek terms: oxy,“sharp” and mōros,“stupid.” It dates from the 1650s in the sense of “a figure of speech that conjoins words or terms that appear contradictory in order to make a point.” Today...
Deafening silence (Origin unknown, first seen in print 1830) Cruel kindness (Source unknown; to be “cruel to be kind” first in Hamlet c. 1601) Falsely true (Tennyson, 1862) Melancholy merriment (Byron, 1819) Scalding coolness (Hemingway, 1940) Terrible beauty (Yeats, 1916) Listen lou...