Oxymoronically Speaking Trivia Quiz

Answer: Freezer

Clue references Frank Burns from "M*A*S*H" and his relationship with head nurse Major Margaret Houlihan.

"M*A*S*H" began as a 1968 novel by Richard Hooker called "MASH: A Novel about Three Army Doctors" which was based on his own experiences as a surgeon in Korea.

It was made into a movie in 1970 and then became a TV series that ran from 1972 to 1983. He was played by Robert Duvall in the movie and Larry Linville on TV.

Frank was portrayed as snobbish, belligerent and unfriendly in all three versions as well as being a third rate surgeon. He hits it off with Margaret immediately and the two have an affair for the first four seasons of the TV show.

OXYMORON

An oxymoron usually contains a noun and either an adjective or adverb using more than one definition of the word.

The oxymoron here is two direct conflicting definitions:
Freeze meaning that the temperature has dropped below 0 degrees and burn meaning to be destroyed by extreme heat.

Freezer burn occurs when frozen food is damaged by dehydration because of air reaching the food. It is usually caused by food not being in air tight packaging.

There does not appear to be an origin of the phrase but it's possibly due to freezer burn making meat look brown and leathery like it does when cooked.

Answer: War

Civil engineers design, construct, manage and maintain the infrastructure of modern society. Roads, railways, tunnels, buildings, bridges, airports, mines, dams, ports, harbours, water supply and sewerage are all due to civil engineering.

OXYMORON:

A war is a state of armed conflict between different countries or groups within them.
Civil means not military or religious, but relating to the ordinary people of a country or courteous and polite.

'Civil War' in this context uses the earliest definition of civil meaning 'of or relating to citizens' so a war between citizens of the same country.

Answer: Pretty

Drizella and Anastasia Tremaine are the names of the ugly stepsisters in Disney's 1950 rendition of "Cinderella".

There have been many folk tales based on "Cinderella"-like stories, the earliest known dating back to the first century AD about a slave girl named Rhodopsis who marries the king of Egypt. The two referring to the modern fairytale as we know it are by French author Charles Perrault and then by the Brothers Grimm in 1812.

OXYMORON:

Pretty: having conventionally accepted elements of beauty.
Ugly: unpleasant or repulsive, especially in appearance.

The oxymoron here uses the alternative definition of pretty meaning "quite, but not extremely" so they are 'quite ugly'.

Answer: Landing

References the collectibles found in the video game "Crash Bandicoot".

"Crash Bandicoot" is a popular video platform game franchise that was created by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The first game in the series, "Crash Bandicoot," was released for the original PlayStation in 1996. The franchise centres around the titular character, Crash Bandicoot, a marsupial who battles his arch-nemesis, Doctor Neo Cortex, and other villains to save his world.

OXYMORON:

Crash: To break violently and noisily, to smash
Landing: a going or bringing to a surface (such as land or shore) after a voyage or flight.

The oxymoron here is that we assume that the 'landing' means a 'safe landing'. A plane that has crashed may be in many pieces but they will still return to land.

Answer: Idiot

Raymond Babbitt is from the movie "Rain Man" and Shaun Murphy the TV series "The Good Doctor". It refers to them having Savant Syndrome. They are also both portrayed as autistic but that is a disorder not a syndrome. The clue is referring to savant not the oxymoron itself.

Savant Syndrome is the (much nicer) term that is now used for this condition but 'idiot savant' was used, and is still in some areas, for many years.

The condition is usually associated with either people on the autistic spectrum or those who have experienced a brain injury. Roughly half are from those on the spectrum and they are often referred to as autistic savants.

The term isn't just related to higher intelligence; these people have exceptional skill or talent in one particular area. The most common are those known as calendrical savants or 'human calendars'. These people can recall exact days of the week for any date given to them and have an eidetic memory of any event in their lives on any given day.

Interesting to note, it can also affect a physical condition. There are people who are extremely clumsy and physically awkward who can sit at a piano and play with grace and finesse.

Both characters mentioned are autistic savants not 'idiot' savants. Shaun in particular has a high IQ but it is not this that defines him as a savant but his brain's ability to map the entire human anatomy in his head in 3D.

OXYMORON:

Idiot: a stupid or foolish person.
Savant: person with a high level of knowledge or skill.

The term was coined in 1887 when medical terminology referred to anyone with an IQ below 25 as an idiot and savant comes from the French for 'to know."

Answer: Devout

Clue refers to different origins of the word deity or God

In the broadest sense of the word atheism is the absence of belief in the existence of deities. The middle ground rejects the belief that they exist while the narrowest view is where they state there are none.

Definitions also differ because there is no exact definition of who are considered Gods and whether it is a belief in itself or merely absence of one.

OXYMORON:

Devout means to believe strongly in a religion and obey all its rules or principles so the two are in direct conflict with one another. To be a devout atheist suggests that atheism is a religion which it is not.

It is defined as an atheist who zealously pushes atheism or attacks religion to the point of being as annoying as the religious people who annoy them. They are said to 'preach the word of no God.'

Answer: News

Refers to the novel "The Old Curiosity Shop" by Charles Dickens.

The novel was one of only two that Dickens published in his weekly serial known as "Master Humphrey's Clock." It was serialised for a year preceding its publication in 1841.

The plot follows the journey of Nell Trent and her grandfather, both residents of The Old Curiosity Shop in London, whose lives are thrown into disarray by the antagonist Daniel Quilp.

OXYMORON: Old News

News: information or reports about recent events.
Old: having lived or existed for many years.

The origin of this is more understandable beginning with the phrase 'yesterday's news' meaning a news event that is no longer recent.

Answer: Ill

Clue refers to the staffs representing medicine and healthcare.

I included both staffs in the description as the caduceus, though used by the US, is an inaccurate symbol based on a misunderstanding when it was conceived.

The caduceus, meaning 'herald's wand', is the staff carried by the messengers Hermes in Greek and Mercury in Roman mythologies. The short staff is entwined by two serpents, sometimes surmounted by wings.

The rod of Asclepius is the staff carried by this Greek God who is the deity associated with healing and medicine. It only has one snake entwined around it.

OXYMORON: Ill health

Health: the condition of the body and the degree to which it is free from illness, or the state of being well.
Ill: not feeling well, or suffering from a disease.

This oxymoron derives from the later use of ill used as an adjective of bad.

Answer: Only

Clue refers to "Sophie's Choice" a 1982 American movie.

"Sophie's Choice" is a novel written by William Styron published in 1979. The story is set in post-World War II Brooklyn and revolves around the character Zofia (Sophie) Zawistowski, a Polish immigrant haunted by her experiences during the Holocaust when she was forced to choose which of her two children would live and which would die.


OXYMORON:

Choice: an act or the possibility of choosing between given options.
Only: there is a single one or that there are no others.

Only choice: A situation where there is no alternative or genuine choice available. This is also be referred to as Hobson's choice.

Answer: Jumbo

Refers to Paul Hogan's famous tourism advert "I'll slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for you".

This advert from the Australian Tourism Commission ran from 1984 to 1990 in the UK and the US. These predated his 1986 film "Crocodile Dundee" so though he was known in the UK he wasn't in the US. Contrary to popular belief this is not an Australian term - we use the term prawn instead of shrimp.

They are both very similar in appearance but are not actually the same subspecies and they do taste differently but many commercial farms do use the term interchangeably. Australians generally use the term prawn for both.

Aquaculture literature has started dividing them by freshwater (prawns) and marine (shrimp) species but this is not actually correct either.

OXYMORON:

Jumbo: Extremely large
Shrimp: A short or small person

Jumbo Shrimp is used for large shrimp, Australians use the term King Prawns.