<p>“No one dared disturb the sounds of silence,” goes the famous song whose lyrics were written by Paul Simon and sung by Art Garfunkel. To me, it was a revelation. It was my first experience of listening to this subtle form of figure of speech, namely, the oxymoron.<br /><br /></p>.<p>As I looked up the word in the Webster’s Dictionary, I was enthused to know that “oxy” and “moron” (meaning sharp and dull) implied that an oxymoron is a set of two words which are contradictory in meaning, very often used as satire. Thus, in the song, “Sounds of Silence”, “people talking without speaking, and people hearing without listening” made for some pretty intriguing but beautifully phrased lyrics.<br /><br />In hindsight, over the years, I have been swamped by various subtly humourous oxymorons, as almost anyone with a bit of ingenuity and an eye for dichotomous words can coin them with ease. <br /><br />For example, in Shakespeare’s play ‘Macbeth’, Lady Macbeth is described by critics as having “negative decency” or in the movie “True Lies,” it was director James Cameron who urged his leading actress to “act naturally!”! Won’t the shadow of a smile play on your lips when you hear and dwell upon the following oxymorons: “United Nations,” “Microsoft Works,” “Advanced BASIC,” “Business Ethics,” “Airline Food” and “Country Music!” Other oxymorons abound with thinly veiled humour: “American English,” “accurate horoscope,” “artificial intelligence,” “bitter sweet,” “pretty ugly” and “constant change!”<br /><br />It is said that there are 3 things in life over which one has no or little control – birth, marriage (to some extent) and death, each of which has mind-boggling associated oxymorons. “Happily married” is perhaps the most paradoxical oxymoron, but with birth, too, has a few like “birth control” and “safe delivery”! Now, wouldn’t any woman worldwide be on a perpetual Cloud 9 if guaranteed irrevocably safe deliveries?<br /><br />I once read of a woman who, unable to bear a child, made an arrangement with her husband and another woman to act as a surrogate mother. Once the surrogate daughter was born, the husband and wife decided to name her after the surrogate mother, Erica. So, they came to her and said, “We are naming our surrogate daughter Erica.” The dim-witted lady’s round eyes became startled as she said, “Hey! That’s my name!” “Son of a gun, it is!” exclaimed the first woman, looking heavenwards! Now, isn’t Erica being “seriously funny”?<br /><br />At the other end of birth’s spectrum is death, for which the oxymoron that springs to mind is “Dying is a part of life.” The nature of death is considered so intriguing and mysterious that few people have the temerity to laugh or crack jokes at such a life-altering ordeal, except by alluding to it as a “leveller.”<br /><br />An exception to this rule was renowned writer, Khushwant Singh, who, sensing that his end was near, wrote his own obituary, completely tongue in cheek: “This malicious man had so much of fun/ Thank God he’s dead, son of a gun!” Another well known writer used the ultimate oxymoron to encapsulate the enigma of death, “I’m not really scared of death. I just don’t want to be present when it happens”!</p>
<p>“No one dared disturb the sounds of silence,” goes the famous song whose lyrics were written by Paul Simon and sung by Art Garfunkel. To me, it was a revelation. It was my first experience of listening to this subtle form of figure of speech, namely, the oxymoron.<br /><br /></p>.<p>As I looked up the word in the Webster’s Dictionary, I was enthused to know that “oxy” and “moron” (meaning sharp and dull) implied that an oxymoron is a set of two words which are contradictory in meaning, very often used as satire. Thus, in the song, “Sounds of Silence”, “people talking without speaking, and people hearing without listening” made for some pretty intriguing but beautifully phrased lyrics.<br /><br />In hindsight, over the years, I have been swamped by various subtly humourous oxymorons, as almost anyone with a bit of ingenuity and an eye for dichotomous words can coin them with ease. <br /><br />For example, in Shakespeare’s play ‘Macbeth’, Lady Macbeth is described by critics as having “negative decency” or in the movie “True Lies,” it was director James Cameron who urged his leading actress to “act naturally!”! Won’t the shadow of a smile play on your lips when you hear and dwell upon the following oxymorons: “United Nations,” “Microsoft Works,” “Advanced BASIC,” “Business Ethics,” “Airline Food” and “Country Music!” Other oxymorons abound with thinly veiled humour: “American English,” “accurate horoscope,” “artificial intelligence,” “bitter sweet,” “pretty ugly” and “constant change!”<br /><br />It is said that there are 3 things in life over which one has no or little control – birth, marriage (to some extent) and death, each of which has mind-boggling associated oxymorons. “Happily married” is perhaps the most paradoxical oxymoron, but with birth, too, has a few like “birth control” and “safe delivery”! Now, wouldn’t any woman worldwide be on a perpetual Cloud 9 if guaranteed irrevocably safe deliveries?<br /><br />I once read of a woman who, unable to bear a child, made an arrangement with her husband and another woman to act as a surrogate mother. Once the surrogate daughter was born, the husband and wife decided to name her after the surrogate mother, Erica. So, they came to her and said, “We are naming our surrogate daughter Erica.” The dim-witted lady’s round eyes became startled as she said, “Hey! That’s my name!” “Son of a gun, it is!” exclaimed the first woman, looking heavenwards! Now, isn’t Erica being “seriously funny”?<br /><br />At the other end of birth’s spectrum is death, for which the oxymoron that springs to mind is “Dying is a part of life.” The nature of death is considered so intriguing and mysterious that few people have the temerity to laugh or crack jokes at such a life-altering ordeal, except by alluding to it as a “leveller.”<br /><br />An exception to this rule was renowned writer, Khushwant Singh, who, sensing that his end was near, wrote his own obituary, completely tongue in cheek: “This malicious man had so much of fun/ Thank God he’s dead, son of a gun!” Another well known writer used the ultimate oxymoron to encapsulate the enigma of death, “I’m not really scared of death. I just don’t want to be present when it happens”!</p>
