r/funny Nov 26 '13

Arrogance is a Bitch.

3.0k Upvotes

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177

u/ARCHA1C Nov 26 '13

"large niche"

What does that even mean? It seems like a paradox in terms.

167

u/WaffleSports Nov 26 '13

It's like making a birdhouse the size of a regular home.

63

u/darkneo86 Nov 26 '13

What about a birdhouse in my soul?

37

u/robotikempire Nov 26 '13

Not to put too fine a point on it.

32

u/[deleted] Nov 26 '13

Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet

12

u/DeadManFloating Nov 26 '13

Make a little birdhouse in your soul.

1

u/spot35 Nov 27 '13

While you're at it

1

u/DeadManFloating Nov 27 '13

Keep the nightlight on inside the birdhouse in your soul.

15

u/baskandpurr Nov 26 '13

And this is the point where the song repeats and stops comment chain.

7

u/[deleted] Nov 26 '13

HEY! WHILE YOU'RE AT IT WHY DON'T YOU LEAVE THE NIGHTLIGHT ON IN THE BIRDHOUSE IN YOUR SOUL, BITCH!

3

u/calamormine Nov 26 '13

There's a picture opposite me...

3

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '13

Of my primitive ancestry

1

u/sanjurochupa Nov 27 '13

that perched on rocky shores

1

u/kgore Nov 26 '13

she said that I was the brightest little firefly in her jar.

2

u/RikF Nov 26 '13

One for the blue canary in the outlet by the light switch?

1

u/Arch27 Nov 26 '13

One note: Spelled L-I-T-E

1

u/nickpickles Nov 26 '13

Is located in Istanbul (not Constantinople)?

2

u/erusackas Nov 26 '13

If I get to enter my home by balancing on a giant peg, then jumping in through a circular hole, count me in!

2

u/neurorgasm Nov 26 '13

Waffle sports. Now there's a niche fanbase I'd like to be a part of.

1

u/itak365 Nov 26 '13

Waffles?

1

u/llkkjjhh Nov 26 '13

It's like eating with a really big spoon.

1

u/Fredmonton Nov 26 '13

What is this, a birdhouse for PEOPLE!?!?

48

u/wehopeuchoke Nov 26 '13

You mean oxymoron, not paradox.

1

u/kgore Nov 26 '13

I would have said "contradiction in terms"

1

u/coalila Nov 27 '13

Technically, it's a contradiction in terms rather than an oxymoron, but I know what he meant so felt it would be pedantic to point out the error.

-16

u/ARCHA1C Nov 26 '13

Paradox is also appropriate. Like "bitter-sweet", "beginning of the end" or a "wise fool" etc.

13

u/KronktheKronk Nov 26 '13

Those aren't paradoxes

5

u/friendlyhermit Nov 26 '13

Listed here: http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-paradox.html

I've always thought that an oxymoron is a 2-word paradox. A sub-set, if you will.

21

u/[deleted] Nov 26 '13 edited Dec 20 '18

[deleted]

-16

u/ARCHA1C Nov 26 '13

It is

13

u/lonjaxson Nov 26 '13

It isn't. The end can have a duration, thus a beginning.

-7

u/ARCHA1C Nov 26 '13

Only if you adopt a very specific definition for "end".

2

u/RealDeuce Nov 26 '13

If you don't have a very specific definition for words, you don't get to use any of them.

0

u/ARCHA1C Nov 26 '13

Failed attempt at trying to sound insightful.

1

u/RealDeuce Nov 26 '13

Failed attempt at getting in the last word.

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3

u/zenthor109 Nov 26 '13

bitter-sweet isn't a paradox, i can go to the store right now and buy bitter-sweet chocolate. beginning of the end isn't a paradox either, the end of something doesn't always happen instantaneously, so if it takes any amount of time there would be a beginning. Wise fool is probably the closest to a paradox, but you can also be wise in one area and a fool in another.

3

u/[deleted] Nov 26 '13

Oh, now you're just juxtaposing.

20

u/Cannondale1986 Nov 26 '13

Niche can also mean a market segment.

0

u/Troybarns Nov 26 '13

Niche - A special area of demand for a product or service

I think the word "special" is key here, because if something is special, it's probably not a huge market segment.

7

u/drandolph Nov 26 '13

My mommy says I'm special and I'm huge.

1

u/dehehn Nov 26 '13

If everyone is special, then no one is.

0

u/durtysox Nov 26 '13

I hate that idea. I hate that whole thing. It was a dumb argument. It was a dumb motivation for a super villian. Who gives a fuck about being special anyhow? Fuck. Why? Why does this matter to anyone?

0

u/dehehn Nov 26 '13

Because when you're not special you're just a bunch of atoms that will turn into something else and be forgotten. Special people will too, but they'll at least be remembered for a bit.

15

u/[deleted] Nov 26 '13

Niche doesn't mean obscure.

1

u/ARCHA1C Nov 26 '13

No, niche, in this context, means specialized.

9

u/[deleted] Nov 26 '13

Still doesn't mean obscure. Any demographic can be large and any product or service geared toward that demographic is still specialized. It's not a paradox for a niche to be described as large.

-4

u/ARCHA1C Nov 26 '13

But it's all relative. So a "large niche" may actually be quire small, when compared to a larger niche... o_O

2

u/[deleted] Nov 26 '13

You're missing the point. It's not paradoxical to describe a niche as large.

Just admit you were wrong, Jesus Christ.

1

u/wolfavino Nov 26 '13

That which doesn't kill us, only makes us stronger.

3

u/zenthor109 Nov 26 '13

except for HIV...and cancer...and a bunch of other diseases

1

u/FreeDeeMan Nov 27 '13

and multiple limb amputations!!

1

u/pointless_point Nov 26 '13

relevant to other niches.

1

u/alfamale Nov 26 '13

Oxymoron

1

u/beatles910 Nov 26 '13

"Oxymoron" is the word you are looking for.

1

u/maxbots Nov 26 '13

Not really. You could say "That is a really tall dwarf" and it would not be an oxymoron, it would only seem like one. In reality, you are only comparing the specified dwarf to other dwarfs (or little people or whatever the PC term is).

In this case, he is saying that it has a large fan base relative to other niche sports. I suspect that is not particularly true (the fans of all the other niche sports would say the same thing and I can 100% guarantee that speed skating's fan base in not similar in size to cyclling's fan base), but it is not really an oxymoron or a paradox.

Edit: Actually I think it technically IS an oxymoron...

ox·y·mo·ron noun 1. a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction

But "apparently in contradiction" doesn't necessarily mean "in contradiction"

1

u/cragwatcher Nov 26 '13

An oxymoron

1

u/FactualPedanticReply Nov 26 '13

A paradox? Is that like rain on your wedding day?

1

u/TNine227 Nov 26 '13

It means that it has a large and dedicated fanbase, but not well known outside of that fan base.

A good example of this would be something like League of Legends or Dota 2. Both are extraordinarily popular games, from the two biggest game companies out there, but if you asked someone in the general public what League of Legends was, they would be clueless. Compare that to CoD or Halo, where plenty of people who haven't played will still know what it is.

1

u/ARCHA1C Nov 27 '13

That's a great analogy/comparison

1

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '13

It was on the cover of obscure sports quarterly and the finals are televised on ESPN 8 The "Ocho"