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Tuesday

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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9 comments:

  1. Right, it doesn't make any sense at all ;) loved to learn the word oxymorons ;)

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  2. Back in college in my Media Arts Class we had to do sketches of oxymorons

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  3. irregardless is a word used all the time that makes no sense, The word is regardless.

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  4. Sorry I didn't catch your oxymorons earlier. Congrats on finishing.

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  5. Just wanted to let you know I've listed my 26 favorite blogs from the Challenge including yours. Stop by www.widowsphere.blogspot.com and see.

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  6. I know book keeping and how to do a budget (city hall in Europe) and always wonder why it's so hard to not spend more than you have coming in. If private citizens are expected to do it, I don't get what makes the government exempt.

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  7. Well written. I still don't get why the Clinton surplus was not used to pay down the debt. The interest is killing us.

    http://joycelansky.blogspot.com/2013/04/atoz-meets-ww-z-for-zombies.html

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  8. Congrats on finishing the A to Z challenge. Oxymorons are a great idea for a theme.

    Rinelle Grey

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  9. Congratulations for making it to the finish line and thanks for the visit to my site!

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