There's a certain way of writing that is named after an author who was notorious for doing it... It's like using words together that usually don't go together very well. For example:
''He cried triumphantly.''
One typically doesn't cry out in triumph. That's not the best example, but hopefully someone will figure out what I mean.
What word usage am I thinking of?internet
He killed graciously
He cursed lovingly
he drowned carefully
he cracked his head open heroicly
yeah
What word usage am I thinking of?network
I found your question so interesting (I'm studying translation and linguistics) that I decided to look for an answer myself. :P And I found it! I think that what you're talking about are ''OXYMORA''. This is what Wikipedia says about them:
An oxymoron (plural oxymora) is a figure of speech that combines two normally contradictory terms. Oxymoron is a Greek term derived from oxy (''sharp'') and moros (''dull''). Thus the word oxymoron is itself an oxymoron.
Oxymora are a proper subset of the expressions called contradictions in terms. What distinguishes oxymora from other paradoxes and contradictions is that they are used intentionally, for rhetorical effect, and the contradiction is only apparent, as the combination of terms provides a novel expression of some concept, such as ''cruel to be kind''.
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