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?












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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















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?












share|improve this question
























  • 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













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?












share|improve this question















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






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








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


















  • 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










2 Answers
2






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7
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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?"






share|improve this answer























  • 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






    active

    oldest

    votes








    2 Answers
    2






    active

    oldest

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    active

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    active

    oldest

    votes








    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?"






    share|improve this answer























    • 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















    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?"






    share|improve this answer























    • 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













    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?"






    share|improve this answer














    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?"







    share|improve this answer














    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer








    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


















    • 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












    up vote
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    down vote













    Uncategorised.



    That's a category if you ask me.






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    New contributor




    Luke Puplett is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.






















      up vote
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      down vote













      Uncategorised.



      That's a category if you ask me.






      share|improve this answer








      New contributor




      Luke Puplett is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.




















        up vote
        0
        down vote










        up vote
        0
        down vote









        Uncategorised.



        That's a category if you ask me.






        share|improve this answer








        New contributor




        Luke Puplett is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.









        Uncategorised.



        That's a category if you ask me.







        share|improve this answer








        New contributor




        Luke Puplett is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.









        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer






        New contributor




        Luke Puplett is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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        answered Dec 14 at 17:10









        Luke Puplett

        1011




        1011




        New contributor




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        New contributor





        Luke Puplett is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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        Check out our Code of Conduct.






























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