Paradox: A self-contradictory phrase or sentence, such as 'the ascending rain' or alexander pope's description of man, 'great lord of all things, yet a prey to all.' don marquis's 'quote buns by great men quote' (archys life of mehitabel [london: faber and faber, 1934]: 103-04), describes a drunk trying to go up a down-escalator as 'falling upwards / through the night' (the poem also parodies henry wadsworth longfellow's 'st. Augustine').

 

Related Words

Paradox: A self-contradictory phrase or sentence, such as 'the ascending rain' or alexander pope's description of man, 'great lord of all things, yet a prey to all.' don marquis's 'quote buns by grea . . . View Full Definition

Zenos Paradox: The name comes from Zeno of Elea (born c. 495-480 BCE). Zeno proposed four paradoxes in order to challenge accepted notions of space and time as defined in various philosophical circles. The . . . View Full Definition

Oxymoron: An expression impossible in fact but not necessarily self-contradictory, such as john milton's description of hell as 'darkness visible' in book i of paradise lost.

Wit: In modern vernacular, the word wit refers to elements in a literary work designed to make the audience laugh or feel amused, i.e., the term is used synonymously with humor. In seventeenth-ce . . . View Full Definition