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Oxymorons

Fill the blanks in these contradictory terms.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: May 5, 2013
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First submittedMay 5, 2013
Times taken62,230
Average score65.0%
Rating3.90
5:00
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Hint
Oxymoron
Oversized prawn
Jumbo Shrimp
Ultraviolet lamp
Black Light
Charlie Brown saying
Good Grief
Parting is such …
Sweet Sorrow
Robert E. Lee fought in one
Civil War
Schwarzenegger movie
True Lies
Zombies
Living Dead
50/50 chance
Even Odds
Bengay competitor
IcyHot
Heavy metal band
Quiet Riot
Hint
Oxymoron
Things we know we don't know
Known Unknowns
Boxing weight class, 168-175 lbs
Light Heavyweight
Where General Custer met his end
Little Bighorn
Stereotypical Native American term for liquor
Fire Water
Musical genre also called “adult contemporary”
Soft Rock
1-800 number, for example
Toll Free
Album by Oasis
Definitely Maybe
How Jesus supposedly came to be
Virgin Birth
Teen literature
Young Adult
What piano is short for
Pianoforte
+8
Level 23
May 30, 2013
Lol, you forgot the common "pretty ugly" oxymoron.
+7
Level 37
Jun 1, 2013
Postal service?
+4
Level 65
Apr 30, 2021
Military Intelligence?
+1
Level 64
May 1, 2021
sounds like a Hangar 18 quote

nice one, Dave

+1
Level 64
May 1, 2021
Sorry, where's the oxymoron in that?
+4
Level 26
May 30, 2013
I think you should accept Giant as an alternate answer for shrimp.
+7
Level 14
May 31, 2013
But that's not what they're called.
+1
Level 71
Jun 2, 2013
I call them giant shrimps. :/
+8
Level 73
Oct 28, 2015
We call them King Prawns
+1
Level 70
Apr 30, 2021
King prawns +1
+1
Level 72
Apr 30, 2021
Never heard of a jumbo shrimp in the UK
+1
Level 66
Mar 6, 2018
Certainly not called Jumbo Shrimps in English.
+1
Level 37
Sep 8, 2018
Jumbo Shrimp and Prawns are of the same species, but are not interchangeable, as they are no the same.
+2
Level 84
May 1, 2019
Read some articles saying they are different species but wikipedia disagrees: The terms shrimp and prawn are common names, not scientific names. They are vernacular or colloquial terms which lack the formal definition of scientific terms. They are not taxa, but are terms of convenience with little circumscriptional significance... According to the crustacean taxonomist Tin-Yam Chan, "The terms shrimp and prawn have no definite reference to any known taxonomic groups. Although the term shrimp is sometimes applied to smaller species, while prawn is more often used for larger forms, there is no clear distinction between both terms and their usage is often confused or even reversed in different countries or regions."
+1
Level 56
May 30, 2013
Great quiz. Didn't know about pianoforte. You learn something new everyday!
+1
Level 58
Nov 11, 2016
From what I understand, pianoforte was the actual original name of the piano.
+5
Level 84
May 1, 2019
Yep, because it had a greater dynamic range than previous keyboard instruments like the harpsichord. One of its main innovations is that it could play both piano (quiet) and forte (loud).
+1
Level 58
Apr 30, 2021
And it's still the name used in Italian.
+2
Level 81
May 24, 2021
It was also the successor of the "fortepiano" which ironically was not as loud
+3
Level 32
May 30, 2013
maybe, i don't really want to know,

how your garden grows,

because i just want to fly!

Oasis - Live Forever

+1
Level 20
May 30, 2013
I am trying to make a quiz. How do you add a picture next to the title?
+4
Level 45
May 30, 2013
I think quizmaster adds the pictures and tags if he decides to feature your quiz.
+10
Level 7
Jun 4, 2013
Where is MILITARY INTELLIGENCE???????????????????
+1
Level 37
Oct 30, 2013
Interesting quiz. Got 19 out of 20. Missed the one about piano forte. Oh well...
+6
Level 76
Aug 19, 2014
Gandhi's "western civilisation". When asked what he thought of it, he replied that it would be a very good idea.
+6
Level 55
Mar 30, 2015
Utah Jazz
+1
Level 56
Oct 27, 2015
hahaha This is the most subtle oxymoron!
+4
Level 88
Mar 5, 2018
...or New Orleans Saints!
+2
Level 44
Mar 6, 2018
Los Angeles Lakers
+4
Level 73
May 31, 2015
You forgot "honest politician"
+1
Level 51
Aug 8, 2015
Fun Run.
+7
Level 65
Oct 27, 2015
"Toll free" isn't really an oxymoron. It just means the number is free of tolls.
+2
Level 67
Mar 5, 2018
Was looking for this. Toll free should probably be "toll-free". Two words combined to form an adjective are generally hyphenated.
+1
Level 89
Jul 2, 2018
Yes, and jumbo shrimp obviously isn't an oxymoron either, but they're fun plays on words to call them such.
+1
Level 68
May 1, 2019
Absolutely right. Toll free isn't an oxymoron.
+1
Level 59
Jun 3, 2019
It is an oxymoron though. Toll means payment is involved, free means you don’t have to pay. 100% an oxymoron.
+1
Level 89
Oct 5, 2019
Free isn't restricted to money. A food free of sugar still costs money down front at the register.

Like above, jumbo shrimp (a small person, slang taken directly from the animal shrimp) and soft rock (taken from the verb to rock, not solidified sediment) the 2 terms do not in any way contradict each other. Only to someone who has an extremely limited understanding of the definitions of the word.

+2
Level 72
Oct 27, 2015
agree with LadyScroop. Toll-free should preferably be hyphenated, as it is a compound adjective. Just because two juxtaposed words are opposites doesn't necessarily make it an oxymoron.
+3
Level 66
Mar 5, 2018
That is exactly what an oxymoron is.
+1
Level 58
Oct 27, 2015
enjoyable job
+1
Level 74
Oct 31, 2015
You should accept "light" in addition to "soft" rock. Still an oxymoron, and just as correct.
+3
Level 75
Apr 8, 2016
Actually, I don't think either is correct. In geology we divide the world into hard rocks (igneous and many metamorphic) and soft rocks (sedimentary). Many sed rocks are really not that hard. So while "rock" may be the epitome of hard to some (or to heavy for others), rock does not equal hard or heavy.
+2
Level 83
Dec 4, 2015
Civil war always makes me think of that Horrible Histories sketch that goes something like "Why is it called civil?" "May I kill you, please?" "Sure!"
+1
Level 22
Dec 19, 2015
I'm 13, I knew the 2 most obvious and then the least obvious. o-o
+3
Level 66
Mar 6, 2018
I'm not 13. Oh and neither are you!
+1
Level 95
Dec 23, 2015
RCD Espanyol de Barcelona.
+5
Level 70
Feb 22, 2016
Anyone else try 'Pussy Riot'? No? Just me then.
+1
Level 65
Apr 30, 2021
I definitely did XD
+2
Level 29
Mar 31, 2016
Only 58% of people got Jumbo Shrimp???
+8
Level 71
Nov 11, 2016
The rest ordered the Roast.
+1
Level 48
May 21, 2017
Because in Ireland and uk (perhaps more places?) they are "king prawns"
+1
Level 30
Apr 30, 2016
I am listening to Quiet Riot right now on there Bang You're Head (Metal Health) song!!!
+1
Level 41
May 22, 2016
Honest politician?
+1
Level 59
Jul 10, 2017
What's Bengay and IcyHot?
+2
Level 46
Jul 10, 2017
They treat muscle and joint pain.
+1
Level 89
Jul 2, 2018
An experiment in college and a trip to the campus clinic.
+1
Level 70
Jan 14, 2024
Never heard of Bengay.
+1
Level 65
Mar 5, 2018
I got 15, but it says I got 16!? Not complaining, just odd
+2
Level 65
Mar 5, 2018
PS sorry should have said: great quiz, thanks.
+3
Level 83
Mar 5, 2018
Only 57% for Charlie Brown.....good grief!
+1
Level 56
Mar 5, 2018
I used to know an Irish fellow who worked for the Irish Embassy in London. I used to ask him if if was a spy, and he used to say that "Irish intelligence is a an oxymoron".

To be clear, he said that, not me.

+1
Level 74
Mar 5, 2018
Given some of the comments on this site (50% from me!), "American English"?
+1
Level 65
Mar 5, 2018
"progressive"
+2
Level 44
Jul 2, 2018
Toll-free should be hyphenated, and isn't an oxymoron as it means "free from tolls".

I think people are confused on the shrimp, with prawns they're "giant prawns"....same thing but what they call them in Australia and other places (never mind the ad campaign, we don't throw shrimps on the barbie, definitely prawns).

+1
Level 79
Dec 13, 2020
Definitely never heard of Jumbo Shrimp in my part of Australia
+1
Level 60
May 1, 2021
Jumbo shrimp must be an exclusively US term I think. And probably also toll-free. We don't use either of those terms in the UK.
+1
Level 72
Apr 30, 2021
That's what I thought on reading toll free as well.
+2
Level 48
Jul 2, 2018
It's not the meaning of toll free that's oxymoronic, it's the literate spelling. Toll is basically the opposite of free, henceforth, the oxymoron.
+1
Level 72
Apr 30, 2021
normally hyphenated.
+2
Level 76
Oct 5, 2019
i love the fact that oxymoron comes from greek: oxy, meaning sharp, and moron, meaning dull, and therefore oxymoron is an oxymoron
+1
Level 77
Nov 10, 2019
How is virgin birth an oxymoron? It happened, mate.
+1
Level 51
May 9, 2020
Opposite of birth is death.
+1
Level 72
Apr 30, 2021
Not sure I would believe my missus if she claimed an immaculate conception. And I doubt that CardinalSin would believe his either
+2
Level 80
Apr 30, 2021
Most of these aren't oxymorons
+1
Level 40
Apr 30, 2021
I thought an oxymoron was someone who couldn't figure out how to use acne medicine?...
+1
Level 46
May 3, 2021
one of the most fun quizzes on the site. all of them were pretty easy, surprised not many people got them
+1
Level 62
Aug 7, 2021
need to remove "supposedly" from virgin birth
+1
Level 54
Jan 12, 2024
Some of these aren't actual oxymorons though.