Date: Wed, 18 Sep 1996 08:09:47 -0400

From: David Muschell dmuschel[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MAIL.GAC.PEACHNET.EDU

Subject: Re: A new oxymoron?



Albert E. Krahn wrote:

Is "uninformed question" an oxymoron?



I suppose so. Touche'.



By the way,did y'all know that "oxymoron" came from the words "Oxford" and

"moron", because it

was a contradiction in terms to call someone who graduated from such a

prestigious school a

dumby. (The "y" in the middle is the Spanish word for "and".) I know it's

true, because that's

what the guys who hung around Buddy's Pool hall when I was growing up used to

say.



Danny "Bubba" Long



Dear Bubba,



The boys at Buddy's were bumfuzzled. The word comes from the Greek and

referred to "a clever remark, more pointedly witty for seeming absurd or

foolish" (American Heritage Dictionary), from roots meaning "sharp and

dull, pointed and foolish" (Oxford Companion to the English Language). The

billiards brothers were involved in a kind of folk etymology dealing with

class or intellect ridicule. Sorry, but sometimes you have to be cruel to

be kind.



David Muschell

David Muschell

Dept. of English, Speech, and Journalism

Box 44

Georgia College & State University

Milledgeville, GA 31061

dmuschel[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]mail.gac.peachnet.edu

(912)-453-5556