What Is an Oxymoron?
5. Act Naturally
People are often asked to act naturally when they are trying to hide something. For example, children will often tell each other to act naturally when trying to avoid being caught doing something they should not have been doing.
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If they were to act as though they had done something wrong, it would obviously alert other people to their shenanigans. To “act naturally” is an oxymoron on account of the fact that those involved are acting at all. We still tend to know exactly what is meant, though, and those involved will usually try to do their best act as though nothing unusual has been going on.
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