On 14/09/2010 16:21, Kathryn Huxtable wrote:
> On 2010-09-13 16:30:56 -0500, Dan Dassow said:
>
>> On Sep 13, 1:09 pm, Kathryn Huxtable 
>> wrote:
>>> [...]
>>> The "Holy Roman Empire". I think it was Voltaire who
pointed out that
>>> it was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire. There should be a word
>>> for such things... Maybe there is.
>>>
>>> -K-
>>
>> http://www.onelook.com/?loc=lemma&w=oxymoron
>>
>> The closest word I can think of is oxymoron, conjoining contradictory
>> terms (as in "`deafening silence"). However, that doesn't quite
>> capture the concept.
>>
>> http://www.onelook.com/?w=antiphrasis
>>
>> Another possibility is antiphrasis, the use of a word in a sense
>> opposite to its normal sense (especially in irony).
>
> Yes, but not quite right. There needs to be a word... I've thought this
> for years.
>
> -K

Then invent a new word.

Andrew Swallow
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