Oxymoron

Oxymoron is lexical stylistic device the syntactic and semantic structures of which come to clashes (e.g. “cold fire”, “brawling love”). [brawl – argue, quarrel]

The most widely known structure of oxymoron is attributive. But there are also others, in which verbs are employed. Such verbal structures as “to shout mutely” or “to cry silently” are used to strengthen the idea.

Oxymoron may be considered as a specific type of epithet.

Originality and specificity of oxymoron becomes especially evident in non-attributive structures which also (not infrequently) are used to express semantic contradiction as in “the street was damaged by improvements”, “silence was louder than thunder”.

Oxymorons rarely become trite, for their components, linked forcibly, repulse (push aside) each other and oppose repeated use. There are few colloquial oxymorons, all of them show a high degree of the speaker’s emotional involvement in the situation, as in “awfully pretty”.

Example: cruel kindness.

Euphemism is a word or phrase used to replace an unpleasant word or expression by a conventionally more acceptable one, the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant. E.g., the word to die has bredthe following euphemisms: to pass away, to expire, to be no more, to depart, to join the majority, to be gone, and also more humorous, witty ones: to kick the bucket, to give up the ghost, to go west.

The origin of the term ‘euphemism’ discloses the aim of the device very clearly, i.e. speaking well (from Greek).

Example: “eliminate” for “kill”.