| REMOTELY CLOSE |
“Not even remotely close” is a fine example of an oxymoron. An idea can be “not even remotely correct,” but closeness and remoteness are opposites; and it doesn’t make sense to have one modify the other. There are lots of lists of oxymorons on the Web, but they mostly mix jokey editorializing (“military intelligence” and “Microsoft Works”) with true oxymorons. Good for a laugh, but not providing much guidance to writers. If there’s a truly helpful oxymoron site you know of, I’d like to hear about it.