Bohemian B’s Beat

Impossible possibilities

As a lover of literature I have always been able to find my escape if you will, in the written word. As a child I would use the medium of books to ‘get lost’ in. It was there were I would always be the heroine, the fairy princess, the ruler of candyfloss planet with my castle made of candy, a flying unicorn with sparkly silver wings that would fly me to another world called fantasia to visit the jelly tot queen. This was the place in time where my imagination boomed (more like exploded) and my dreams started to form. I would read anything and everything from cereal boxes to poetry; words intrigued me, fascinated me and eventually became my mode of self expression. Some words are beautiful and roll over my tongue smoothly and if I had to put a taste to them I’d call them vanilla words. Others are quite ‘sticky’ and take some serious twisting of my tongue to pronounce, these particularly ‘obnoxious’ words would probably taste like peanut-butter (not as smooth to swallow as vanilla ice-cream, yet equally delicious. I don’t know if you've noticed exactly how complicated the English language can be, but I sure did. Although I never really saw it as complicated but rather as a series of possibilities for different outcomes, an automatic auto correct if you will. I can just imagine your expression as you try fathom how I managed to reach this conclusion. Let me explain by using the word ‘oxymoron’ as it is specifically this would which my conclusion is derived from. According to wikkipedia ‘An oxymoron (plural oxymora or oxymorons) is a figure of speech that juxtaposes elements that appear to be contradictory. Oxymora appear in a variety of contexts, including inadvertent errors (such as "ground pilot") and literary oxymorons crafted to reveal a paradox. The most common form of oxymoron involves an adjective–noun combination of two words.’ For example, the following line from Tennyson's Idylls of the King contains two oxymora: ‘And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true’. (..... my sentiments exactly. or as I’d say when utterly confused, ‘Ja,nee’ ) Many oxymorons have been popularized in vernacular speech. Examples include "controlled chaos", "open secret", "organized mess", "alone in a crowd", and "accidentally on purpose” Writers often use an oxymoron to call attention to an apparent contradiction. An oxymoron allows for a perfectly explained manner of self expression, sometime a situation can if fact be bitter sweet eg; I’m sad to leave but excited to embark on a new journey. However, the sugar candy I am eating is sweet, not bitter. Often some people, myself included, use the ‘oxymoron way’ to deliver a venomous statement by lacing their derogatory or hurt intended words with honey. ‘It’s nothing personal but the cake you baked is sickly sweet, I wouldn't do it that way’. If it’s nothing personal, why do you feel the need to,1) say it’s not personal and 2) comment at all? You may not like that specific cake, but there are others who enjoy it tremendously. ‘There is nothing wrong with you as a person....’ Really? as a person?, opposed to what exactly, an umpaluma from the chocolate factory perhaps? And then the all time winner of ‘excusable inexcusable insults, ‘I don’t mean to be rude but......’. Well if you don’t mean to be rude then don’t and if you do mean to be rude then don’t use the defenseless oxymoron as a scapegoat.

Here is a bit of crazy wisdom that will help avoid sweet sorrow. Say what you mean and mean what you say. If you can’t master that art however( I know, sometime our mouths have a mind of its own and spits the words out before we even realize it’s doing that) rather implement a deafening silence, or a forward retreat opposed to being faced with a quiet riot.



Glitter greetings (and all things shiny)

Bohemian B