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Mathematical

Grelling-Nelson Paradox

Is the word 'heterological' heterological?

Overview

A semantic paradox about words that describe themselves.

An 'autological' word describes itself (e.g., 'short' is short, 'English' is English). A 'heterological' word doesn't describe itself (e.g., 'long' isn't long). Is 'heterological' heterological? If yes, then it describes itself, so no. If no, then it doesn't describe itself, so yes.

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