What are some examples of paradoxical words?
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The word "non-hyphenated" is a paradoxical word in that it is a word about words, but it does not describe itself.
I have two questions:
- Is there a name for these types of paradoxical words?
- What are some other examples of them?
logic
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up vote
3
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favorite
The word "non-hyphenated" is a paradoxical word in that it is a word about words, but it does not describe itself.
I have two questions:
- Is there a name for these types of paradoxical words?
- What are some other examples of them?
logic
Sanguine Defs 2 and 4: merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sanguine I've always liked stop signs. You may be wandering into semiotics here: visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/S4B/sem02.html
– Wayfaring Stranger
Aug 14 '17 at 3:32
Possible duplicate of Is there a term for a word that defeats its own purpose?
– Lawrence
Aug 14 '17 at 4:37
2
From wikipedia: The opposite is a heterological word, one that does not apply to itself (e.g. "long" is not long, "monosyllabic" has five syllables, "German" is not German).
– Lawrence
Aug 14 '17 at 4:38
add a comment |
up vote
3
down vote
favorite
up vote
3
down vote
favorite
The word "non-hyphenated" is a paradoxical word in that it is a word about words, but it does not describe itself.
I have two questions:
- Is there a name for these types of paradoxical words?
- What are some other examples of them?
logic
The word "non-hyphenated" is a paradoxical word in that it is a word about words, but it does not describe itself.
I have two questions:
- Is there a name for these types of paradoxical words?
- What are some other examples of them?
logic
logic
edited Aug 14 '17 at 5:25
asked Aug 14 '17 at 2:21
Zubin Mukerjee
396210
396210
Sanguine Defs 2 and 4: merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sanguine I've always liked stop signs. You may be wandering into semiotics here: visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/S4B/sem02.html
– Wayfaring Stranger
Aug 14 '17 at 3:32
Possible duplicate of Is there a term for a word that defeats its own purpose?
– Lawrence
Aug 14 '17 at 4:37
2
From wikipedia: The opposite is a heterological word, one that does not apply to itself (e.g. "long" is not long, "monosyllabic" has five syllables, "German" is not German).
– Lawrence
Aug 14 '17 at 4:38
add a comment |
Sanguine Defs 2 and 4: merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sanguine I've always liked stop signs. You may be wandering into semiotics here: visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/S4B/sem02.html
– Wayfaring Stranger
Aug 14 '17 at 3:32
Possible duplicate of Is there a term for a word that defeats its own purpose?
– Lawrence
Aug 14 '17 at 4:37
2
From wikipedia: The opposite is a heterological word, one that does not apply to itself (e.g. "long" is not long, "monosyllabic" has five syllables, "German" is not German).
– Lawrence
Aug 14 '17 at 4:38
Sanguine Defs 2 and 4: merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sanguine I've always liked stop signs. You may be wandering into semiotics here: visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/S4B/sem02.html
– Wayfaring Stranger
Aug 14 '17 at 3:32
Sanguine Defs 2 and 4: merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sanguine I've always liked stop signs. You may be wandering into semiotics here: visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/S4B/sem02.html
– Wayfaring Stranger
Aug 14 '17 at 3:32
Possible duplicate of Is there a term for a word that defeats its own purpose?
– Lawrence
Aug 14 '17 at 4:37
Possible duplicate of Is there a term for a word that defeats its own purpose?
– Lawrence
Aug 14 '17 at 4:37
2
2
From wikipedia: The opposite is a heterological word, one that does not apply to itself (e.g. "long" is not long, "monosyllabic" has five syllables, "German" is not German).
– Lawrence
Aug 14 '17 at 4:38
From wikipedia: The opposite is a heterological word, one that does not apply to itself (e.g. "long" is not long, "monosyllabic" has five syllables, "German" is not German).
– Lawrence
Aug 14 '17 at 4:38
add a comment |
2 Answers
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As Lawrence notes, such a word is heterological.
Heterological adjective
A word that does not apply to itself
Wikipedia
By contrast a word which does describe itself is autological or homological.
The word heterological is not merely "paradoxical" in that it describes words which don't describe themselves, it also leads to a paradox all of its own. Consider the question: is the word "heterological" itself heterological or autological?
Given the definition of "heterological", it follows that if "heterological" is heterological then it's autological, and if it's autological then it's heterological.
This is known as the Grelling-Nelson Paradox, and has similarities to the famous paradox of Bertrand Russell based the "set of all sets which don't contain themselves" and asks "Does such a set contain itself?"
Interesting! Grelling-Nelson sounds like it is a specific case of the liar parardox.
– Zubin Mukerjee
Aug 14 '17 at 5:20
And this is the third time in five days I've run across mention of the Bertrand Russell Paradox, which had escaped my notice the previous fifty years or so. Bizarre.
– Phil Sweet
Dec 14 at 22:33
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That's a category if you ask me.
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2 Answers
2
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2 Answers
2
active
oldest
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active
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active
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up vote
7
down vote
accepted
As Lawrence notes, such a word is heterological.
Heterological adjective
A word that does not apply to itself
Wikipedia
By contrast a word which does describe itself is autological or homological.
The word heterological is not merely "paradoxical" in that it describes words which don't describe themselves, it also leads to a paradox all of its own. Consider the question: is the word "heterological" itself heterological or autological?
Given the definition of "heterological", it follows that if "heterological" is heterological then it's autological, and if it's autological then it's heterological.
This is known as the Grelling-Nelson Paradox, and has similarities to the famous paradox of Bertrand Russell based the "set of all sets which don't contain themselves" and asks "Does such a set contain itself?"
Interesting! Grelling-Nelson sounds like it is a specific case of the liar parardox.
– Zubin Mukerjee
Aug 14 '17 at 5:20
And this is the third time in five days I've run across mention of the Bertrand Russell Paradox, which had escaped my notice the previous fifty years or so. Bizarre.
– Phil Sweet
Dec 14 at 22:33
add a comment |
up vote
7
down vote
accepted
As Lawrence notes, such a word is heterological.
Heterological adjective
A word that does not apply to itself
Wikipedia
By contrast a word which does describe itself is autological or homological.
The word heterological is not merely "paradoxical" in that it describes words which don't describe themselves, it also leads to a paradox all of its own. Consider the question: is the word "heterological" itself heterological or autological?
Given the definition of "heterological", it follows that if "heterological" is heterological then it's autological, and if it's autological then it's heterological.
This is known as the Grelling-Nelson Paradox, and has similarities to the famous paradox of Bertrand Russell based the "set of all sets which don't contain themselves" and asks "Does such a set contain itself?"
Interesting! Grelling-Nelson sounds like it is a specific case of the liar parardox.
– Zubin Mukerjee
Aug 14 '17 at 5:20
And this is the third time in five days I've run across mention of the Bertrand Russell Paradox, which had escaped my notice the previous fifty years or so. Bizarre.
– Phil Sweet
Dec 14 at 22:33
add a comment |
up vote
7
down vote
accepted
up vote
7
down vote
accepted
As Lawrence notes, such a word is heterological.
Heterological adjective
A word that does not apply to itself
Wikipedia
By contrast a word which does describe itself is autological or homological.
The word heterological is not merely "paradoxical" in that it describes words which don't describe themselves, it also leads to a paradox all of its own. Consider the question: is the word "heterological" itself heterological or autological?
Given the definition of "heterological", it follows that if "heterological" is heterological then it's autological, and if it's autological then it's heterological.
This is known as the Grelling-Nelson Paradox, and has similarities to the famous paradox of Bertrand Russell based the "set of all sets which don't contain themselves" and asks "Does such a set contain itself?"
As Lawrence notes, such a word is heterological.
Heterological adjective
A word that does not apply to itself
Wikipedia
By contrast a word which does describe itself is autological or homological.
The word heterological is not merely "paradoxical" in that it describes words which don't describe themselves, it also leads to a paradox all of its own. Consider the question: is the word "heterological" itself heterological or autological?
Given the definition of "heterological", it follows that if "heterological" is heterological then it's autological, and if it's autological then it's heterological.
This is known as the Grelling-Nelson Paradox, and has similarities to the famous paradox of Bertrand Russell based the "set of all sets which don't contain themselves" and asks "Does such a set contain itself?"
edited Aug 14 '17 at 5:14
answered Aug 14 '17 at 5:04
Steve Lovell
1,358214
1,358214
Interesting! Grelling-Nelson sounds like it is a specific case of the liar parardox.
– Zubin Mukerjee
Aug 14 '17 at 5:20
And this is the third time in five days I've run across mention of the Bertrand Russell Paradox, which had escaped my notice the previous fifty years or so. Bizarre.
– Phil Sweet
Dec 14 at 22:33
add a comment |
Interesting! Grelling-Nelson sounds like it is a specific case of the liar parardox.
– Zubin Mukerjee
Aug 14 '17 at 5:20
And this is the third time in five days I've run across mention of the Bertrand Russell Paradox, which had escaped my notice the previous fifty years or so. Bizarre.
– Phil Sweet
Dec 14 at 22:33
Interesting! Grelling-Nelson sounds like it is a specific case of the liar parardox.
– Zubin Mukerjee
Aug 14 '17 at 5:20
Interesting! Grelling-Nelson sounds like it is a specific case of the liar parardox.
– Zubin Mukerjee
Aug 14 '17 at 5:20
And this is the third time in five days I've run across mention of the Bertrand Russell Paradox, which had escaped my notice the previous fifty years or so. Bizarre.
– Phil Sweet
Dec 14 at 22:33
And this is the third time in five days I've run across mention of the Bertrand Russell Paradox, which had escaped my notice the previous fifty years or so. Bizarre.
– Phil Sweet
Dec 14 at 22:33
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
Uncategorised.
That's a category if you ask me.
New contributor
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
Uncategorised.
That's a category if you ask me.
New contributor
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
Uncategorised.
That's a category if you ask me.
New contributor
Uncategorised.
That's a category if you ask me.
New contributor
New contributor
answered Dec 14 at 17:10
Luke Puplett
1011
1011
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add a comment |
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Sanguine Defs 2 and 4: merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sanguine I've always liked stop signs. You may be wandering into semiotics here: visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/S4B/sem02.html
– Wayfaring Stranger
Aug 14 '17 at 3:32
Possible duplicate of Is there a term for a word that defeats its own purpose?
– Lawrence
Aug 14 '17 at 4:37
2
From wikipedia: The opposite is a heterological word, one that does not apply to itself (e.g. "long" is not long, "monosyllabic" has five syllables, "German" is not German).
– Lawrence
Aug 14 '17 at 4:38