Cool Weapons

[BigV]

Originally Posted by Gravdigr

Civil weapons...that's almost an oxymoron.

Originally Posted by BigV

funny!

But I think civilian weapons is the intended meaning.

Originally Posted by Dammian

Excepting myself anyway

civ·il
ˈsiv(ə)l/
adjective
adjective: civil

--snip--

2.
courteous and polite.
"we tried to be civil to him"

Actually, Dammian, Gravdigr's joke (a pretty good one, too) was pointing out the apparent contradiction between the second definition of civil and the obvious meaning of weapons. This kind of contradiction is often used for humorous effect. Gravdigr this called this paradox an oxymoron.

ox·y·mo·ron
(ŏk′sē-mor′ŏn′)
n. pl. ox·y·mo·rons or ox·y·mo·ra (-mor′ə)
A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist.