Fight Fire with Fire?

I thought the saying was You can't fight fire with fire, but they can and do. It's been a common practice since the old west, when they burned underbrush so there wouldn't be much flammable debris to prolong a fire. And more recently, when they detenate dynamite to remove oxygen from the fire, which extinguishes it. Shakespear mentions "be fire with fire" in a play about King John, written in the 16th Century.

The closest reference was more recent.  US author Henry Tappan's 1852 reminiscence A Step from the New World to the Old, and Back Again:

Smoking was universal among the men; generally cigars, not fine Havanas, but made of Dutch tobacco, and to me not very agreeable. I had some Havanas with me, and so I lighted one to make an atmosphere for myself: as the trappers on the prairies fight fire with fire, so I fought tobacco with tobacco.

But it still makes more sense to me that you can't fight fire with fire. I think it is more effective to fight fire with its opposite, water. There are many instances of the backfire thing, back firing, meaning althoughit was intended to quell the fire, it only exacerbated it!

Delightful Surprise

Is a delightful surprise or a surprising delight? It works both ways.

Peaceful Rest or Restful Peace? Same difference.

How weird is that?! Same difference? That's definitely an oxymoron.

Spendthrift

Are you a spendthrift?

This is a weird word, made up from 2 words, spend and thrift. Spend is a verb which means to exchange money for some item or service, thrift is a noun which means the state of not having or not using money.

So it would be an oxymoron if those words appeared together.

But as one word it means someone who spends a lot of money, not one who is thrifty. odd.

Obviously

This morning I heard an interesting phrase, “Tacitly obvious.” This is definitely an oxymoron. Tacit means subtle, and obvious means it’s out there, easy to see, plain as the nose on your face, clear, unambiguous. I enjoy defining words.

Now I’ll check these with the authorities, so I can see the etymology.

Tacit – adj. not spoken; implied. It’s from the Latin word tacitus (silent).

Obvioius – adj. easily perceived or understood; easily seen through, not subtle. From Latin also.

Is it tacit or obvious that I love words?

Redundant

Good Morning! Is that an oxymoron? Some days it is.

Happy Monday! That is.

"Blithe indifference." If blithe means happy, and indifferent means without feeling, it would be an oxymoron. But wait! If indifferent means without caring, and blithe means carefree, it really isn't an oxymoron, but a redundant phrase. I guess that illustrates the difference between denotation (dictionary meaning) and connotation (common meaning). Because "blithe" is such a pleasant little word, and "indifferent" has a coldness to it.

I was thinking about my last blog and wondering if I should have defined blithe.

Blithe—carefree, cheerful, jolly

Therefore I have decided that "insouciant" is good, because "blithe" is good.

Florida Christmas

Florida Christmas. That's almost an oxymoron. Well, for Northerners it definitely is one!

It was raining here on Christmas. And we had a tornado watch in effect for most of the day.

The Christmas parade was last week. There were plenty of fire trucks, motorcycles, and clowns, including local politicians. Some of the marchers gave out candy, beaded necklaces and the most memorable of all, snowballs. They gave out snowballs at the Christmas Parade in Pinellas County Florida! They looked like the ice that forms in the freezer when it needs to be defrosted, but my son said it was not simply crushed ice. They must have added something the water to raise the melting point temperature, so they wouldn't melt immediately!

And a few nights ago we went to the Winter Campfire and Cookout for the cubscouts. We met at a farm where they raise Belgian horses and Jack Russel terriers. The campfire was blazing. The air temperature was close to 80 degrees. We gathered around the campfire (not too closely) and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and drank hot chocolate. We sang Christmas carols in a wagon drawn by 2 Belgian horses.

In Florida, we do everything they do up north, except it's much warmer. And we only have snow at parades and ice skating rinks. Yes, we have ice skating here. You can ice skate at the mall! The mall is air conditioned and it's coldest near the rink. It's a really refreshing activity, especially in July!

Also, the day before Christmas Eve, I went to the beach. Two days before Christmas and I went to the beach! It was a little cloudy, But about 75 degrees. I saw some kids swimming. I myself, bravely dipped my feet in the water. It wasn't ice cold. The beach wasn't crowded, so it was a great day for the beach. I figure the other Florida residents were at the mall, probably shopping, not even ice skating!

Oxy moron. Extra Strength idiot? No! My unabridged dictionary tells me it is from Greek, Oxy means sharp and Moron means dull. So it is an oxymoron, a combination of opposite or contradictory terms.