An oxymoron is when a speaker puts two words together that seem to fight each other, on purpose, so the clash itself says something. “Deafening silence” is a classic one: silence cannot shout, and yet a room can feel loudly quiet. “Bittersweet,” “living dead,” “cruel kindness,” “jumbo shrimp” work the same way. The speaker is not confused. The spark is the point.

An oxymoron矛盾修飾法 is when就是 a speaker說話者 on purpose故意 puts two words together把兩個詞放在一起，that seem to fight each other這兩個詞看起來互相衝突，so讓 the clash itself衝突本身 says something說出了一些話。"Deafening silence"這個說法 is a classic one是經典例子：silence cannot shout安靜沒辦法大叫，and yet但 a room一個房間 can feel loudly quiet卻可以讓人感覺到「很大聲的安靜」。"Bittersweet," "living dead," "cruel kindness," "jumbo shrimp"這些詞 work the same way也是同樣的道理。The speaker說話者 is not confused並不是搞混了。The spark這個火花感 is the point才是重點。

People also use oxymoron more loosely, though actually, to laugh at a pairing they find silly or fake — calling something an oxymoron as a jab. That looser use is common in talk and online, but in a language class the careful meaning is the deliberate two-word clash.

People有些人 also也 use oxymoron用oxymoron這個詞 more loosely用得比較鬆散 to laugh at a pairing用來嘲笑某個詞語組合 they find silly or fake他們覺得很蠢或很假的——calling something an oxymoron把某樣東西說成是oxymoron as a jab當作一種調侃。That looser use這種比較鬆散的用法 is common很常見 in talk and online在口語和網路上，but但 in a language class在語言課堂上 the careful meaning嚴謹的意思 is是 the deliberate two-word clash刻意製造的兩個詞的衝突。

It is a little school-formal, from writing and speech class, but newspapers use it too.

It這個詞 is a little school-formal有點偏正式、學院氣，from writing and speech class來自寫作課和演講課，but但 newspapers報紙 use it too也會用。

The old Greek pieces already mean “sharp-dull,” so the name is doing the same trick it names.

The old Greek pieces這個字裡的古希臘字根 already mean本身的意思就是 "sharp-dull,"「銳利-遲鈍」，so所以 the name這個名字 is doing本身就在做 the same trick同樣的把戲 it names它所指稱的那個把戲。