A friend told me, “I want to listen to the news and know what’s going on in the world, but it’s really hard listening when the news is all bad.” She’s not alone. But, what if there were a word game to play, something fun to do while listening to all that bad news? Fun and bad news. Total opposites! Somewhat similar to an oxymoron—a figure of speech, usually one or two words, in which seemingly contradictory terms appear side by side. (organized mess, controlled chaos).
Without diminishing the importance of today’s news and current events, here’s a word game you can play while listening to the news. Following is a list of 100 oxymorons commonly heard in current news reports and news-related talk shows. When listening is difficult, focus on finding the words! See how long it takes before you’ve found them all.
A
alone together
altogether separate
anyone
anxious patient
B
ball diamond
bar opening
barely dressed (without a mask!)
behaving badly
C
checkpoint
clearly confused
conspicuous absence
constant change
constructive criticism
conventional wisdom
come away
criminal justice
civil war
“Words are chameleons, which reflect the color of their environment.”—Learned Hand
D
defensive attack
disaster relief
doing nothing
E
easy task
emotional reasoning
extensive briefing
F
feeling numb
fine mess
forced choice
free will
G
global village
going nowhere
great depression
H
head butt
highly depressed
home office
hopelessly optimistic
“Words are potent weapons for all causes, good or bad.”—Manly Hall
I
ill health
increasing losses
incredibly real
initial results
J
job security
journalistic integrity
junk food
L
lonesome
loyal opposition
M
mandatory option
missing here
N
new normal
never again
“How often misused words generate misleading thoughts.”—Herbert Spencer
O
occupied space
objective opinion
obstructed view
only choice
open bar
ordinary event
outcome
“Words are the most powerful thing in the universe… Words are containers. They contain faith, or fear, and they produce after their kind.”—Charles Capps
P
passive resistance
peaceful offense
permanent change
personal business
political party
press release
pretty ugly
preposterous
private citizen
progressively worse
Q
qualitative data
questionable answer
quiet rage
quite unlikely
R
recorded live
required elective
restless sleep
riot control
rising deficit
roadblock
rough finish
S
scale down
set off
short distance
slow speed
small army
social distance
spectator sport
stand down
storehouse
strangely familiar
“No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.” —John Keating
T
taped live
tax cut
tax free
tense calm
terribly good
true story
U
unacceptable solution
unbiased opinion
unusual routine
V
very little
victimless crime
W
whenever
willful negligence
Y
young adult
Z
zero deficit
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