My understanding of an oxymoron is: a phrase that is viable, but when taken separately, the words are contradictory. How are the words "affirmative" and "action" contradictory? Whom ever put this on the list probably disagrees with Affirmative action, but that doesn't make it an oxymoron.
Mister Lutz
Kinda like military intelligence....those two words don't contradict each other either but for the most part, is the military really intelligent?
Mister Lutz
Oh yeah, forgot to mention the fact that affirmative action really hasn't been all that successful but neither has the post office.
oxymoron: a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in "cruel kindness" or "to make haste slowly."
