Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2023 January 6

Welcome to the Wikipedia Language Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

January 6

"Polysyllabic" is polysyllabic

"Polysyllabic" is polysyllabic; "short" is short; "plain" is plain; "recondite" is recondite; for that majority of English users who are unfamiliar with it, "rebarbative" is rebarbative. By contrast, "monosyllabic" is not monosyllabic; etc etc. We might class the former bunch as autosemous and the latter as exosemous. However, Google quickly shows that no we do not. But I remember reading, long ago, a little article by Martin Gardner that was about this distinction (and that ended by asking, in other terms, whether "exosemous" was autosemous or exosemous). Anyone remember Gardner's terms for these? -- Hoary (talk) 01:50, 6 January 2023 (UTC)

Autological. Nardog (talk) 02:17, 6 January 2023 (UTC)

Yes, that's it. Thank you, Nardog! -- Hoary (talk) 04:59, 6 January 2023 (UTC)

My favourite thing of this ilk is: un-hyphenated is hyphenated, but hyphenated is un-hyphenated. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 07:53, 6 January 2023 (UTC)

Your favourite is heterological. My favourite pair o' ducks: Is the word heterological  heterological?  --Lambiam 11:10, 6 January 2023 (UTC)

My favorite heterological pair: big isn't very; infinitesimal definitely isn't. 136.56.52.157 (talk) 15:58, 6 January 2023 (UTC)

Naturally, we have an article: Grelling–Nelson paradox. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 16:04, 6 January 2023 (UTC)

I feel the need to mention aptronym as a related term as well. --Jayron32 18:38, 6 January 2023 (UTC)

If I may inject a literary tangent, Robert Glancy in Terms and Conditions (2014) wrote: There's something needlessly cruel about labelling the word for the fear of long words with an incredibly long word (hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia) – thereby inflaming the very people who suffer from it every time you mention their condition to them. I mean, who does that? Probably the same bastards that coined 'dyslexia'. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:51, 6 January 2023 (UTC)

What is the problem with the term 'dilsexya'?  --Lambiam 21:11, 6 January 2023 (UTC)

I like dis Lexia. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 23:06, 6 January 2023 (UTC)

Since booze just tends to make me tired... I 'dis Lexia!' 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 23:15, 6 January 2023 (UTC)

I don't get it. David10244 (talk) 09:57, 9 January 2023 (UTC)