paradox
[email protected] 13 Oct 2007 09:55:20 -0000
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The Word of the Day for October 13 is:=20
paradox \PAIR-uh-dahks\ noun
1 a : a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed t=
o common sense and yet is perhaps true b : a self-contradictory statemen=
t that at first seems true
*2 : one (as a person, situation, or action) having seemingly contra=
dictory qualities or phases
Example sentence:
They had to face the paradox that their family, which was the =
source of so much love and affection, could also be the source of great =
hurt and pain.
Did you know?
The ancient Greeks were well aware that a paradox can take us =
outside our usual way of thinking. They combined the prefix "para-" ("be=
yond" or "outside of") with the verb "dokein" ("to think"), forming "par=
adoxos," an adjective meaning "contrary to expectation." Latin speakers =
picked up the word and used it to create their noun =E2=80=9Cparadoxum,=E2=
=80=9D which English speakers borrowed during the 1500s to create "parad=
ox."
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