Z is for “Zero Deficit” - Oxymorons from A to Z

C’mon, really?  Zero deficit makes me wanna climb on a bipartisan soapbox. 

First, it’s oxymoronic because it simply makes no linguistic sense. A deficit is a negative number, so it cannot be zero.

What’s more, we’ve heard politicians of every stripe crowing about a zero deficit, as if it were a lofty goal and a potential badge of honor.

Yes, Washington. We get it.

Zero deficit means no deficit … doesn’t it? It’s just such a foreign concept that we’re having trouble grasping it. 

The piggy bank is broken.

Maybe it’s because we have household budgets, business budgets, and other budgets to balance. And, when we do it right, we break even. We don’t need a special term to mark what is supposed to be the norm.

Zero deficit? You’ve gotta be kidding.

What’s an oxymoron?

Basically, an oxymoron is a phrase that seems contradictory or incongruous. Taken literally, the words do not make sense. Often, oxymorons find their way into popular usage, becoming cultural catchwords or frequently used idioms.

Many of these curious wordings strike us as delightfully amiss. Besides, what sort of whimsical word is “oxymoron”?

Delightfully Amiss: Berzerkians Gone Amok … and Finding the Funk in Dysfunction is participating in the April A to Z Blogging Challenge. That means you can find a new post every day (except Sundays, because those are the event rules) throughout the month of April. 

Be sure to bookmark, follow, or subscribe! And please leave a comment, especially if you’re playing along with the A to Z Challenge.

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Oxymorons from A to Z

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Y is for “Young Adults” - Oxymorons from A to Z

Y is for “Young Adults” - Oxymorons from A to Z

Yikes. This one’s a real quagmire. Ask any parent with teens or twenty-somethings at home. Are these independent-spirited dependents young, or are they adults? Although they seem to grow like weeds, are they grownups?

Young adults – now that’s an oxymoron.

Don't get me started on curfews and pocket change.

What’s an oxymoron?

Basically, an oxymoron is a phrase that seems contradictory or incongruous. Taken literally, the words do not make sense. Often, oxymorons find their way into popular usage, becoming cultural catchwords or frequently used idioms.

Many of these curious wordings strike us as delightfully amiss. Besides, what sort of whimsical word is “oxymoron”?

Delightfully Amiss: Berzerkians Gone Amok … and Finding the Funk in Dysfunction is participating in the April A to Z Blogging Challenge. That means you can find a new post every day (except Sundays, because those are the event rules) throughout the month of April. Be sure to bookmark, follow, or subscribe! And please leave a comment, especially if you’re playing along with the A to Z Challenge.

Image/s:

 Clown

PublicPhoto.org

Oxymorons from A to Z

Created by this user

On CoolText

Feel free to follow on Google Plus and Twitter. You are also invited to join this writer's fan page, as well as the Chicago Etiquette Examiner, Madison Holidays Examiner, Equestrian Examiner and Madison Equestrian Examiner on Facebook.

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X is for “eXact Estimate” - Oxymorons from A to Z

X is for “eXact Estimate” - Oxymorons from A to Z

What is an exact estimate? It’s not a precise calculation, to be sure. Perhaps it’s more like an educated guess or a fuzzy hypothesis.

An exact estimate is not clear-cut, but it could be nearer the target than a simple shot in the dark. You can count on that.

Maybe that’s something like an approximate answer, but it sounds downright oxymoronic.

Is it too much? Not enough? Close to the mark?

Would you like a guesstimate?

What’s an oxymoron?

Basically, an oxymoron is a phrase that seems contradictory or incongruous. Taken literally, the words do not make sense. Often, oxymorons find their way into popular usage, becoming cultural catchwords or frequently used idioms.

Many of these curious wordings strike us as delightfully amiss. Besides, what sort of whimsical word is “oxymoron”?

Delightfully Amiss: Berzerkians Gone Amok … and Finding the Funk in Dysfunction is participating in the April A to Z Blogging Challenge. That means you can find a new post every day (except Sundays, because those are the event rules) throughout the month of April. Be sure to bookmark, follow, or subscribe! And please leave a comment, especially if you’re playing along with the A to Z Challenge.

Image/s:

 Clown

PublicPhoto.org

Oxymorons from A to Z

Created by this user

On CoolText

Feel free to follow on Google Plus and Twitter. You are also invited to join this writer's fan page, as well as the Chicago Etiquette Examiner, Madison Holidays Examiner, Equestrian Examiner and Madison Equestrian Examiner on Facebook.

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W is for “Working Vacation” – Oxymorons from A to Z

Whoa! Wait a minute. Weren’t we gonna relax on this trip?

What do we wonder, when we see a guy zigzag along a beach, holding his iPhone to one ear and trying to find a solid connection? Look a few paces ahead or behind, and you may see his family. They’re the ones giggling and laughing and splashing in the surf. Looks like the guy may have lost at least one kind of connection.

Now look at the hotel balcony. That’s right – up there on the third floor, overlooking the ski hill. See the young lady with the laptop computer? She’s plugged in, while her family or friends hit the slopes.

Check out the dude in line at Disney World, holding up the whole line for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, while he feverishly taps out a text message on his Kindle Fire. Is his crew ready to mutiny? 

And there's another highly motivated soul, filing one more report on her netbook before joining her companions at the shore.

You got it – working vacation.

And we wonder why our society is so stressed out.

What’s an oxymoron?

Basically, an oxymoron is a phrase that seems contradictory or incongruous. Taken literally, the words do not make sense. Often, oxymorons find their way into popular usage, becoming cultural catchwords or frequently used idioms.

Many of these curious wordings strike us as delightfully amiss. Besides, what sort of whimsical word is “oxymoron”?

Delightfully Amiss: Berzerkians Gone Amok … and Finding the Funk in Dysfunction is participating in the April A to Z Blogging Challenge. That means you can find a new post every day (except Sundays, because those are the event rules) throughout the month of April. Be sure to bookmark, follow, or subscribe! And please leave a comment, especially if you’re playing along with the A to Z Challenge.

Image/s:

 Clown

PublicPhoto.org

Oxymorons from A to Z

Created by this user

On CoolText

Feel free to follow on Google Plus and Twitter. You are also invited to join this writer's fan page, as well as the Chicago Etiquette Examiner, Madison Holidays Examiner, Equestrian Examiner and Madison Equestrian Examiner on Facebook.

Share