矛盾修饰法(Oxymoron)是英语中一种常用的修辞手法。Oxymoron 源于希腊文 oxus-moros。oxus 意为 sharp;moros 意为 foolish,stupid,dull。而 oxymoron 的意思是 pointed foolish或 sharp foolish。矛盾修辞法是有意识地运用语义反常(semantic anomaly)现象,把含有对立或矛盾语义成分的词语联系到一起以造成出语奇险的一种修辞手段,它能产生特殊的、引人注目、意味深长、妙趣横生、幽默讽刺的修辞效果。这种修辞手法在十六世纪末和十七世纪曾用得很普遍。著名的例子可见莎士比亚笔下的《罗密欧与朱丽叶》。例如: Oxymoron is a common rhetorical device in English. Oxymoron from the Greek oxus-moros. oxus means sharp; moros means foolish, stupid, dull. The meaning of oxymoron is pointed foolish or sharp foolish. Paradoxical rhetoric is a rhetorical device that consciously uses the phenomenon of semantic anomaly to associate words that contain semantic anomalous components of contradictory or contradictory to create an idiosyncratic language adventure that produces special, compelling, meaning Deep, fun, funny and satirical rhetorical effect. This rhetorical technique was used quite commonly in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The famous example can be found in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” E.g: