|
Jailbird
Jarring harmony
"The jarring harmony of things?" Horace
Jumbo shrimp
Jumbo Shrimp, title of 1986 book by Warren S. Blumenfield
"Probably the best-known oxymoron in the United States is one
from comedian George Carlin's record Toledo Window Box, the delightful
jumbo shrimp?" Richard Lederer
Junk bonds
Junk food
Junk science
Junior senator
Just war
Justifiably paranoid
Kickstand
Killjoy
Kitchen police
Knee-high panty hose
Known secret
Known stranger
Known covert operation
Kosher Christmas cookies
Kosher ham
Lace-up loafers
Ladies man
Lady wrestler
Lame effort
Land developer
Land development
Large miniature
Large mini-van
Larger half
Last initial
Lead balloon
Lean pork
Learned blockhead
"A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead
than an ignorant one?" Benjamin Franklin
Learned fool
"A learned fool is one who has read
everything and remembered it?" Josh Billings
"A learned fool is more foolish than an ignorant one?" Molière
Least favorite
Legal brief
Legal ethics
Legal reasoning
Legally drunk
Leisure industry
Leisure suit
Lemon lime
Lend lease
Less filling
Less is more
"Well, less is more, Lucrezia?" Robert Browning, in "Andrea del Sarto" (1855)
"Less is more?" Motto of architect Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe
Lesser evil
Lethal assistance
Liberal conservative
Liberal fundamentalist
Libertarian organization
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant general
Life after death
Light armor
Light dark beer
Light heavyweight
Light opera
Light rock
Light shadow
Light-skinned Black
Lightweight
Limited empowerment
Limited freedom
Limited immunity
Limited lifetime guarantee
Limousine bus
Linear curve
Liquid air
Liquid crystal
Liquid gas
Liquid metal
Liquid paper
Liquid smoke
Literal interpretation
(A) Little big
Little Big Horn
Little Big League
Little Big League, title of 1994 film
Little Big Man
Little Big Man, title of 1965 novel by Thomas Berger
(and 1970 film starring Dustin Hoffman)
(A) Little bigger
(A) Little bit big
Little Giant
Little Giant, title of 1946 Abbott & Costello film
"The Little Giant," nickname of Stephen A. Douglas
Little monster
Little Murders
Little Murders, title of 1967 play by Jules Feiffer
(and 1971 film starring Elliott Gould)
(A) Little pregnant
Live on tape
Live recording
Live television
Living Apart Together
Living Dead
"A needy, hollow-ey'd, sharp-looking wretch,
A living-dead man."
William Shakespeare, in A Comedy of Errors
Night of the Living Dead, title of 1968 movie
Living death
"Then had I not been thus exiled from light;
As in the land of darkness yet in light;
To live half dead, a living death,"
John Milton, in Samson Agonistes (lines 98-100)
Living doll
Living end
Living corpse
Living fossil
Local celebrity
Local long distance
Lonely Heart's Club
Loner's Club
Long Day's Night
A Long Day's Night. Blue Oyster Cult, title of 2002 concert film
Long Island Expressway
Long nap
Long recess
Long shorts
Long sleeve t-shirt
Loose knot
Loose tights
Loosely packed
Loud silence
The Long, Loud Silence. Wilson Tucker, title of 1952 book
(updated & rewritten in 1969)
Loud whisper
Lovable loser
Love-hate relationship
Lover's quarrel
Lovesick
Loving hatred
Lower inflation
Low-fat ice cream
Low altitude
Low priority
Low-rise
Low-speed chase
Loyal opposition
"To you, I'm an atheist; to God, I'm the Loyal Opposition?" Woody Allen
Luke-warm enthusiasm
Luxury apartment
Luxury bus
Luxury SUV
Macro microorganism
Magic realism
Magnificent desolation
"Beautiful! Beautiful! Magnificent desolation?" Astronaut "Buzz" Aldrin,
on July 20, 1969 moon walk
Magnificent failure
Magnificently ugly
"She is magnificently ugly—deliciously hideous?" Henry James, \
on George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)
Major general
Major minority group
Major trivia
Make haste slowly
"Make haste slowly?" Augustus Caesar (in Latin, festina lente)
Male compassion
Male intellect
The Male Intellect, An Oxymoron?, title of 1996 play by Robert Dubac
Male ladybug
Male sensitivity
Man-child
Managed care
Managed competition
Managed healthcare
Management action
Management decision
Management science
Management support
Mandatory contribution
Mandatory option
Mandatory volunteerism
Many fewer
Marijuana initiative
Marital bliss
Marital trust
Married life
Martial arts
Martial law
Master copy
Maternity fashion
Mature adolescent
Mature male
Maxi-Thins
Meaningful nonsense
Meaningful Nonsense, title of 1966 book by Charles J. Ping
Meaningful overnight relationship
Meatless chili
Meatless hamburger
Meatless sausage
Medical care
Medicare benefits
Medium large
Melancholy merriment
"For checker'd as is seen our human lot
With good, and bad, and worse, alike prolific
Of melancholy merriment, to quote
Too much of one sort would be soporific."
Lord Byron, in Don Juan, Canto Eight
Melted ice
Mental masturbation
Mercy killing
Merry widow
Metal board
Metal woods
Microscopic carelessness
"The ladies looked one another over with microscopic carelessness?"
Arthur "Bugs" Baer
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Works
Middle initial
Middle East peace process
Midnight sun
Mighty Mouse
Mighty weak
Mild abrasive
Mild cigar
Mild hot sauce
Mild jalapeno
Mild-mannered reporter
Mild turbulence
Mildly abrasive
Mildly psychotic
Militant pacifist
Militant peacenik
Military accountability
Military budget
Military intelligence
"Military intelligence—a contradiction in terms?" Oswald Garrison Villard,
in 1920 lecture
"Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms?" Groucho Marx
Military justice
Military music
"Military justice is to justice as military music is to music."
Attributed to Groucho Marx, George Clemenceau, and others
Mind-expanding drugs
Mini-marathon
Mini-jumbo CD
Minor catastrophe
Minor crisis
Minor disaster
Minor emergency
Minor milestone
Minor miracle
Minor surgery
Miserable abundance
"O miserable abundance, O beggarly riches?" John Donne
Missing present
Mobil station
Mobile home
Moderately uninhibited
Moderately excessive
Moderately radical
Modern history
Modern tradition
Modestly arrogant
Monopoly (from two Greek words, meaning "single, alone" and "many")
Monumental littleness
"He was a politician of monumental littleness?" Theodore Roosevelt,
on John Tyler
Moral Majority
Morbid humor
More equal
"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
George Orwell, in Animal Farm (1945)
More perfect
More unique
Most unique
Motorcycle safety
Mountain lake
Mournful optimist
Mud bath
Murderous innocence
"The murderous innocence of the sea?" William Butler Yeats,
in "A Prayer for My Daughter"
Mute sound
Mutual masturbation
Mutually exclusive
Nameless celebrity
Nasty Politeness
Natural actor
Natural additive
Natural artifact
Natural make-up
Natural phony
Naturally artificial
Naval aviation
Near miss
Nearly complete
Nearly finished
Nearly perfect
Neat mess
Needless requirement
Negative gain
Negative growth
Negative momentum
Nerd chic
Neutral color
Never again
Never generalize
Nevermore
Never say never
New & Improved
New age
New antique
New Antiques Arriving Daily! Sign at Antique Shop.
New classic
New cliché
"Let's have some new cliché's?" Samuel Goldwyn
New Olds
New routine
New tradition
New used car
Nightlight
Nightshade
Ninety-nine percent pure
Noble frailty
"And love's the noblest frailty of the mind?" John Dryden, in 1665
"And wit's the noblest frailty of the mind?" Thomas Shadwell, in 1679
Noble savage
"I am as free as Nature first made man,
Ere the base laws of servitude began,
When wild in woods the noble savage ran."
John Dryden, in The Conquest of Granada
No-fault divorce
No good do-gooder
Non-alcoholic beer
Non-alcoholic wine
Non-binding contract
Non-dairy creamer
Non-fat cream
Non-stick glue
Non-toxic bug spray
Non-working mother
Normal deviation
Normally insane
"I just want to be normally insane?" Marlon Brando
Notably absent
Nothing much
Now, then
Nuclear defense
Numb feeling
Numb sensation
Obedient defiance
Objective opinion
Objective parent
Obscene art
Obvious secret
Ocean shore
Oddly appropriate
Oddly familiar
Oddly natural
Office Park
Office suite
Official corruption
Old boy
Old boys' network
Old girl
Old girls' network
The Old Girls' Network, title of 2003 book by Sharon Whiteley, et.al.
Old news
One choice
One hundred and ten percent
One-man band
One-man tango,
One-Man Tango, title of book by Anthony Quinn
One-person crew
One size fits all
Once again
On-line newspaper
Only choice
Only option
Open circuit
Open loop
Open marriage
Open secret
Organized anarchy
Organized chaos
Organized confusion
Organized mess
Original copy
Original replica
Original reprint
Original reproductionv
Outer core
Oven-fried
Overdone
Overly modest
Oxymoron (From Gr. words meaning "dull sharpness" or "pointed foolishness)
Oyster cracker
Pacific Ocean
Paid volunteer
Painful pleasure
"And painful pleasure turns to pleasing pain?" Edmund Spenser,
in The Faerie Queene (1590)
Painless dentistry
Paper tablecloth
Paper towel
Paperless office
Parallel connection
Paranoid optimist
"We need to be paranoid optimists?" Robert J. Eaton, Chrysler CEO
Paraphrased quotation
Park Drive
Partial conclusion
Partial nudity
Partial success
Partially completed
Partially destroyed
Passive-aggressive
Passive restraint
Past presents
Past prediction
Peace force
Peacekeeping force
PeaceMaker missile
Peace offensive
Peace riot
Peaceful protest
Perfect idiot
Perfect husband
The Perfect Husband, title of 1998 novel by Lisa Gardner
Perfect wife
Perfect screw-up
Perfect storm
The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea.
Sebastian Junger, title of 1997 book (made into a 2000 movie)
Perfectly awful
Perfectly normal
Permanent change
Permanent fad
"Psychoanalysis is a permanent fad?" Peter de Vries
Permanent guest host
Permanent substitute
Personal ad
Personal business
Personal computer
Personalized form letter
Pet cat
Pet fish
Pet peeve
Pet rock
Petty cash
Pianoforte (literally "soft-loud")
Pink lemonade
Pious atheist
Planned serendipity
Planned spontaneity
Plastic flowers
Plastic glasses
Plastic silverware
Plastic wood
Player coach
Player piano
Pleasantly confused
Pleasing pain
"And painful pleasure turns to pleasing pain?" Edmund Spenser,
in The Faerie Queene (1590)
Pleasing punishment
"The pleasing punishment that women bear?" William Shakespeare,
in A Comedy of Errors
Police protection
Polite cabbie
Politely insulting
Political cooperation
Political ethics
Political leadership
Political promise
Political science
Political solutions
Politically correct
Pool table
Poor little rich kid
Poor little rich girl
A Poor Little Rich Girl, title of 1917 Mary Pickford film
The Poor Little Rich Girl, title of 1936 Shirley Temple film
Pop art
Popular culture
Population control
Positive defeat
Positive resistance
Positively cynical
Positively depressing
Positively negative
Positively wrong
Postal efficiency
Postal service
Postal worker
Post-marital agreement
Powdered milk
Practical idealist
"All her life, Isadora (Duncan) has been a practical idealist?" Truman Capote
Practical joke
Practically useless
Practice test
Precise estimate
Precision bombing
Precious junk
Precious trinkets
Predictably random
Preliminary conclusion
Premeditated spontaneity
Press enter to exit
Press release
Pretty bad
Pretty disgusting
Pretty ugly
Pretty sorry looking
Priceless junk
Primitive culture
Prison life
Private citizen
Private e-mail
Pro-Contra
Preposterous (literally means "before-behind")
Productivity committee
Professional amateur
Professional Amateur, title of 1957 book by T. A. Boyd
Professional dispute
Professional jealousy
Progressive conservative
Progressive decline
Proletarian dictatorship
"A proletarian dictatorship is never proletarian?" Will and Ariel Durant
Proud humility
"Behold how goodly my faire love does ly,
In proud humility!"
Edmund Spenser, in Epithalamion (1597)
Psychiatric care
Public school education
Public servant
Pure crap
Pure dirt
Pure evil
Pure sex
Qualified success
Quality assurance
Quality service
Questionable answer
Quick fix
Quiet noise
Quiet rage
Quiet Rage: Bernie Goetz in a Time of Madness,
title of 1986 book by Lillian J. Rubin
Quiet Riot
Quiet Riot, name of heavy metal group
Quiet scream
Radical center
Radical chic
Radical moderate
Random logic
Random order
Random pattern
Rap artist
Rap music
Rapid transit
Real fantasy
Real imitation leather
Real magic
Real phony
Real polyester
Real potential
Real processed cheese
Really fantastic
Realistic fantasy
Realistic simulation
Reality TV
"Reality TV is mostly about fantasy?" Dr. Mardy Grothe
Reasonable attorney fees
Reasonable demand
Reasonable medical fees
Recent history
Recorded live
Regular special
Relative stranger
Relative truth
Relatively precise
Relatively strict
Religious education
Religious right
Religious science
Religious tolerance
Remotely close
Remotely obvious
Required donation
Required elective
Resident alien
Resort campground
Responsible drinking
Responsible gambling
Responsible teen
Restless sleep
Retired worker
Righteous indignation
Riot control
Rising deficits
River land
Roaring silence
The Roaring Silence, title of 1976 album by Manfred Mann
The Roaring Silence: John Cage: A Life (1993) by David Revill
Rock garden
Rock opera
Rolling stop
Rough finish
Routine change
Routine emergency
Routine surgery
Rubber bones
Rubber cement
Rubber chicken
Rude welcome
Rules of war
Running idle
Running in place
Rush hour
Rush hour traffic
Russian economy
Rustic elegance
RV resort
|
Biography
