Is "almost exactly" an oxymoron?

[TroutMan]

@Khadaji

IMO, theirs is a fairly unique position on this… [emphasis added]

Well done.

[destineal]

It’s almost exactly an oxymoron.

[CookingWithGas]

However, “exactly the same” is redundant.

@dauerbach

One professor was furious for the laughter he received when he stated “The physical exam on the patient was normal except for coma.” It only took a second for him to convince most of this that this was a perfectly accurate description.

It might have been accurate but it is hilarious in its understatement.

[zombywoof]

Sounds fine to me - like saying it’s “almost 100%” the same.

It can’t be an oxymoron, the point is it’s not 100% the same - say it’s 98% or 99% the same - hence the “almost”.

[johnspartan]

No, not an oxymoron.

He picked up the item, then despite not having any measuring equipment or guiding points, replaced it almost exactly where it was before.

It’s probably a bit unwieldy or awkward — I think in common parlance most people would be more likely to say “in almost the exact same place”. Otherwise the adverb’s just sort of left floating.

Again, not oxymoronic… but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s ideal.

[Senegoid]

@TroutMan

I think “almost” is different from “highly”. There aren’t degrees of “averageness” or “mediocreness”, but “highly” implies that even after you achieve averageness or mediocreness, you can still become even more average or mediocre. “Almost” simply means you haven’t quite become average yet, which I would argue is OK.

Yesterday, I was almost mediocre.
Today, I am fully mediocre.
Tomorrow, I will be even more mediocre.
Next week, I will be HIGHLY mediocre.
By this time next year, I expect to achieve TOTAL mediocrity!

[Senegoid]

What about phrases like “totally certain” or “almost certain” or “probably certain” (or “certainly probable”) and the like?

In another nearby thread, Skald the Rhymer’s eccentric billionaire offers YA dare for $500,000. drewtwo99 is either certainly probable or probably certain to take him up on it, but only probably so (but at least he’s sure of that). (ETA: Upon re-reading, that is, if Eccentric Billionaire is open to negotiating the purse.)

@drewtwo99

Count me out if it’s only 500k. If it were several million, then sure I’d probably do it.

Is “sure I’d probably” oxymoronic or (since others have nitpicked the meaning of “oxymoron”) otherwise improbable?

[BigT]

@Senegoid

How can anything be “almost infinite”? No finite magnitude, no matter how large, comes anywhere close to being infinite. Is there some non-finite magnitude that isn’t infinite, but “almost” so?

No, but there are numbers that are large enough that, for all intents and purposes, you won’t run out of what you are using it for. If you say I have “almost unlimited amounts of money”, you are saying it would be very hard for you to run out.

Plus, to scientists’ and mathematicians’ chagrin, one of the colloquial meanings of infinite is just “a really large number.”

[Skald_the_Rhymer]

@Senegoid

What about phrases like “totally certain” or “almost certain” or “probably certain” (or “certainly probable”) and the like?

In another nearby thread, Skald the Rhymer’s eccentric billionaire offers YA dare for $500,000. drewtwo99 is either certainly probable or probably certain to take him up on it, but only probably so (but at least he’s sure of that). (ETA: Upon re-reading, that is, if Eccentric Billionaire is open to negotiating the purse.)

Is “sure I’d probably” oxymoronic or (since others have nitpicked the meaning of “oxymoron”) otherwise improbable?

Sure I’d probably is not oxymoronic. In that construction, sure does not mean certain; it is a meaningless intensive. You could change the sentence to* Fuck yeah*, I’d take it without loss of meaning.

[CookingWithGas]

@BigT

If you say I have “almost unlimited amounts of money”, you are saying it would be very hard for you to run out.

How close to you have to get to “unlimited” before it’s “almost”?

It would be more accurate to say you have “practically unlimited amounts of money,” meaning that it’s not really unlimited but that in no practical sense would you ever run out. Except that you can always run out of any amount, just ask the US government.