Are oxymorons hiding dysfunction in PM?

Project management language is full of terms that sound sensible but collapse under scrutiny.

Take lessons learned. If the same issues recur project after project, were the lessons actually learned, or merely documented? In many cases, “lessons learned” becomes a ritual of closure rather than a mechanism for change.

Shared accountability can dilute responsibility until no one is truly accountable.

Even project success becomes an oxymoron when success is declared despite burned-out teams, degraded quality, or benefits that never materialize.

I’m interested in how other PMs and corporate leaders interpret these terms: do you see them as useful shorthand for complexity or as warning signs that we’ve normalized practices that don’t quite add up?