Bub: What is a
silent majority?
Loko: An oxymoron
Bub: Oh really, why?
Loko: Think about it. How can a majority be silent? Would that not also imply there is a loud minority? Not strictly speaking, but by definition, a crowd of a thousand people cannot be more silent than a few individuals. Therefore it is an oxymoron.
Bub: So what you are saying is that a silent majority is seemingly silent, but has all the traits of a majority?
Loko: Exactly. However because it's an oxymoron, it is only to be used under specific contexts such as the majority of students attending a zoom
lecture that vote on polls but don't ever talk. It has also been used as a
misnomer intended to magnify a population group to make it appear bigger than it really is. In the second case, it is the 'majority' part that is meant to
elude, while 'silent' implies that there is another group in comparison: the supposedly "loud" group which turns out to be the true majority group.
Bub: The second use-case sounds a bit sus.
Loko: Yes, essentially it is double-speak.