Changes

:'''Same-sex marriage''' is an oxymoronic phrase that depicts two people of the same sex attempting to gain the same legal status afforded to men and women.

:'''Same-sex marriage''' is an oxymoronic phrase that depicts two people of the same sex attempting to gain the same legal status afforded to men and women.

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to

:'''Same-sex marriage''' is a phrase, which some regard as self-contradictory, for a legal relationship between two people of the same sex that has the same legal status as a marriage between a man and a woman.

:A '''same-sex marriage''' is a legal relationship between two people of the same sex that has the same legal status as a marriage between a man and a woman. Some regard the phrase as self-contradictory because they do not regard it as a true marriage.

It's not an oxymoron, because it's not a figure of speech made for rhetorical emphasis. In recent years a form of humor has arisen which consists of describing a phrase as an "oxymoron," causing the hearer to do a double-take as he gets the comic interpretation, e.g. "Government organization--that's an oxymoron." But this is not yet accepted as a real meaning for the word, although in a few years it may be. "Same-sex marriage is an oxymoron" could be a joke, but it is not a proper statement either of a fact or of an opinion.

It's not an oxymoron, because it's not a figure of speech made for rhetorical emphasis. In recent years a form of humor has arisen which consists of describing a phrase as an "oxymoron," causing the hearer to do a double-take as he gets the comic interpretation, e.g. "Government organization--that's an oxymoron." But this is not yet accepted as a real meaning for the word, although in a few years it may be. "Same-sex marriage is an oxymoron" could be a joke, but it is not a proper statement either of a fact or of an opinion.