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The word 矛盾 comes from an old Chinese story.

Long ago, a man was selling a spear (矛) and a shield (盾). He said, “My spear can go through anything,” and “My shield can stop every attack.”

Someone then asked him, “What would happen if your spear hit your shield?”

The man could not answer. His two claims could not both be true!

This story comes from an ancient Chinese book called Han Feizi (韩非子).

Today, 矛盾 means a contradiction: two ideas, statements or actions that do not agree with each other. It can also describe mixed feelings, when you want two different things at the same time.