This week, the retirement of a media mogul made me realize that his empire helped to grow a movement that relies on populist hate of elites. On a network built by a billionaire.
Something of an oxymoron, donโt you think?
Oxymorons are rhetorical devices that juxtapose two terms with opposite meanings.
Examples are phrases like โorganized chaos,โ โjumbo shrimp,โ and sadly, โbusiness ethics.โ
The termย oxymoronย was first recorded as Latinized Greekย oxymลrum, c. 400 A.D. byย Maurus Servius Honoratusย aka Servius the Grammarian (he should be our patron saint here at โOff the Clockโ).ย
It is derived from the Greek word แฝฮพฯฯย (oksรบs), meaning โsharp, keen, or pointedโ and ฮผฯฯฯฯย (mลros), meaning โdull, stupid, foolish.โ
The concept stuck and even today, oxymorons surround us daily.
At the museum:
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