Intelligence Failure and the next Armageddon

--> Intelligence Failure and the next Armageddon I like figures of contrast. Like oxymoron. I like it very much. But what is an oxymoron? you may ask. One dictionary defines it as "a phrase that combines two words that seem to be the opposite of each other." It gives one example: a deafening silence. But I am going to give you a long list: Extinct life. Temporary tax increase. Plastic glasses. Terribly pleased. Political science. Tight slacks. Definite maybe. Pretty ugly. Working vacation. Exact estimate. Microsoft works.

If you want to fully understand the contrasting elements, turn the phrases into sentences: Microsoft is working. This is the exact estimate of the budget. I am on a working vacation. She is pretty ugly. And so on. Put differently, Microsoft means work and work means Microsoft. Exact means estimate and estimate means exact. Definite means maybe and maybe means definite. Pretty means ugly and ugly means pretty. And so on.

It is for this reason that I like the English language. Because you can use one word to represent so many things. Such as "Make no mistake about it." (Used to make sure that your listeners do not mistake what you are saying.) And "undisclosed, secret location." (Used to let listeners know that what is secret is undisclosed and what is undisclosed is secret.) But those words are in a separate group called circumlocution, simply meaning going round and round