[Vocabulary] Difference between the words, 'Oxymoron', 'paradox', 'contradiction' and 'misnomer'

[fatimah0786]

What is the difference between the words, 'Oxymoron', 'paradox', 'contradiction' and 'misnomer'?
Eg.'Benevolent dictator' is an oxymoron. If I replace the word with 'misnomer' 'paradox' or 'contradiction' how will the meaning change? I found the following definitions on the internet :

1. Paradox:

A seemingly absurd or contradictory statement or proposition which when investigated may prove to be well founded or true.
"the uncertainty principle leads to all sorts of paradoxes, like the particles being in two places at once".

2. Misnomer

A wrong or inaccurate name or designation.
"‘King crab’ is a misnomer—these creatures are not crustaceans at all"
A wrong or inaccurate use of a name or term.
"To call this ‘neighbourhood policing’ would be a misnomer"

3. Oxymoron

A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction (e.g. faith unfaithful kept him falsely true).


4. Contradiction

Combination of statements, ideas, or features which are opposed to one another.
"The proposed new system suffers from a set of internal contradictions"
o A situation in which inconsistent elements are present.
"The paradox of using force to overcome force is a real contradiction"
o The statement of a position opposite to one already made.
"The second sentence appears to be in flat contradiction of the first"

Corrections in my question are welcome, but please use your precious time, energy and intellect in answering the question asked rather than starting a discussion on the way it was asked.

 

[emsr2d2]

Have you looked up each word in a dictionary? If so, please tell us which dictionary and give the definitions you found. Then tell us how you think they cross over.

As far as your signature line goes, there is no point asking us not to correct errors in how people construct their sentences. This is what we do. We will correct any and every error we find. You will get answers alongside corrections. It will all help you to improve.

 

[fatimah0786]

Sir, I am not against people correcting my post. It's just that I previously posted a thread and hardly three out of nineteen replies were related to the question and no one answered the question properly. Later the post was closed because of that by the moderators I was not being mean or impolite here .
I took the definitions from here: google.co.i/#q=paradox+meaning, google.co.in/#q=misnomer+meaning, google.co.in/#q=contradiction+meaning, google.co.in/#q=oxymoron+meaning –

 

[emsr2d2]

Please don't refer to users here as "Sir". For a start, it's overly formal and in addition, it excludes all the female members (like me).

Thank you for adding those definitions. Now that you have written them out, can you see the huge difference between, for example, "paradox" and "misnomer"?

 

[fatimah0786]

I am sorry for that. I actually wanted to re-edit that part to 'sir/madam', but since you have said that it sounds too formal I would refrain from doing so.

"Paradox" and "misnomer" do have different meaning, but I was in doubt whether 'paradox', 'contradiction' and 'oxymoron' mean the same and whether we can use them interchangeably?

 

[Tdol]

An oxymoron is a phrase where the words clash logically not a statement or proposition, so it's not the same as a paradox. They're in similar areas of meaning, but not interchangeable. Deafening silence is a phrase used that is an oxymoron- silence shouldn't logically be deafening, but sometimes a silence can have a great impact if noise was expected.

 

[fatimah0786]

Does that mean oxymoron is a phrase while paradox is a statement?

 

[MikeNewYork]

<<<"‘King crab’ is a misnomer—these creatures are not crustaceans at all">>>

I don't know where that sentence came from, but they are crustaceans. They are different from other species of crabs, but are still considered to be crabs.

 

[fatimah0786]

The definition is there on the 'oxford dictionaries': http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/misnomer

 

[MikeNewYork]

As far as I know, that is an error. So that would be a MIStaken MISnomer. ;-)

 

[khanhhung2512]

Deafening silence is a phrase used that is an oxymoron- silence shouldn't logically be deafening, but sometimes a silence can have a great impact if noise was expected.

NOT A TEACHER
According to Merriam-Webster's, 'deafening' here means 'very noticeable'. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deafening
So I don't think it's an oxymoron.

 

[MikeNewYork]

To be classified as an oxymoron, a phrase does not have to be incorrect. We usually associate "deafening" with loud noises, so when it is used with silence it is the opposite of "loud noise". That is why it is called an oxymoron. Another example is "jumbo shrimp". Can you figure that one out?

 

[Rover_KE]

Incidentally, there have been several benevolent dictators in history. That's not an oxymoron.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Who?

 

[Rover_KE]

There are actually several examples of benevolent dictators in history: Katherine the Great of Russia, and Fredrick the Great of Prussia were both, I believe, relatively benevolent dictators. As were a string of emperors in ancient Rome, including the emperor Hadrian and the emperor Claudius.

(klash in the above link)

A prime example of a wildly successful benevolent dictatorship is an artistic group and their leader; it could be a choir the choir director, a play and its director, or a student and teacher. These are situations which work extremely well given the right dictator, and simply fall apart if there isn't a strong sense of leadership present.

(zane, ibid)

 

[MikeNewYork]

I doubt very much that there would have been universal agreement at the time in your first examples. Your use of "'relatively" is important there. I don't use the term to describe your latter examples, but I get your point.

 

[Tdol]

NOT A TEACHER
According to Merriam-Webster's, 'deafening' here means 'very noticeable'. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deafening
So I don't think it's a oxymoron.

So what? It's very noticeable through the absence of sound and the example they give is precisely this of silence. If you can find an example of deafening buildings meaning very noticeable buildings, and not through the absence of sound, you might have a case. Beyond that, it's just a case of taking a dictionary giving a common meaning. Deafening silence is a cliché, so it's no surprise to see it in a dictionary. Please don't mistake finding an entry in a dictionary with having found some god-given truth about the nature of oxymorons. It's an oxymoron no matter where it's written.