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

= 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&thinsp; 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. -- Jayron 32 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)