" Elegant silence " or " eloquent silence " ?
If I am not mistaken, the silence once maintained by PM Abdullah over the allegations made against him by ex-PM Dr. Mahathir was originally described as "elegant" by, inter alia, former DPM Musa Hitam.However, prime ministerial mindguard Brendan Pereira's New Straits Times today has changed it to "eloquent silence" (pp.1, 7). Is it a spelling confusion or new spin?
In any case, common sense suggests that when one is silent, he or she cannot be eloquent, or when one is eloquent, he or she cannot be silent. Isn't the expression "eloquent silence" as unintelligible as "static motion/movement", or "noisy quietness" ?
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 7:55 AM
5 Comments:
Yes, it's an oxymoron. dictionary.com gives another example, deafening silence.
oxymoron, yes. and he's a moron.
It is an oxymoron. But I think "eloquent silence" was used by Edward Everett in his Gettysburg Oration on 19 November 1863
http://douglassarchives.org/ever_b21.htm
James, that's what people label as "organised chaos" or in state of flux -- the permanent change. Some form of oxymoron or bombastic twist. I guess. Hehehe
It means a silence that speaks volumes.
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