10 definitions by Bob Stein
Spelling out the letters, for emphasis or fun, of an acronym, especially a TLA, that was abbreviated for modesty or convenience.
Examples of debreviations:
"That was an eff-ing good movie"
"double-you tee eff"
"oh emm gee"
"The trouble is her father could be any one of three men with whom her mother dot dot dotted twenty years ago."
"That was an eff-ing good movie"
"double-you tee eff"
"oh emm gee"
"The trouble is her father could be any one of three men with whom her mother dot dot dotted twenty years ago."
by Bob Stein July 21, 2008
Question that inherently has no answer. Statement that can neither be true nor false. Backformation and opposite of tautology.
"This sentence is a lie." is a loosology because if it's true then it's false, and if it's false then it's true.
"What is north of the north pole?" is a loosology. You could answer "nothing" yet when you get there you can keep going in the same direction.
"What should you say to someone who won't listen?" is a loosology because if there were an answer it would be inherently pointless.
"What is north of the north pole?" is a loosology. You could answer "nothing" yet when you get there you can keep going in the same direction.
"What should you say to someone who won't listen?" is a loosology because if there were an answer it would be inherently pointless.
by Bob Stein September 10, 2008
True by definition, literally "saying the same". Pointlessly obvious. Additional words that add no meaning.
"Either we'll get in trouble, or we won't" is a logical tautology. By including all possibilities the statement must inherently be true.
In "PIN number" the word "number" is a tautology because a PIN is always a number. (At least that's what the N originally stood for — if the term PIN evolved to include letters someday then PIN number would no longer be a tautology.)
In "morning sunrise" the tautology is "morning" because sunrises are a subset of mornings; removing the first word removes no meaning. (The addition of "morning" may be aesthetically more pleasing, in a poem for example, but it remains a logical tautology.)
In "PIN number" the word "number" is a tautology because a PIN is always a number. (At least that's what the N originally stood for — if the term PIN evolved to include letters someday then PIN number would no longer be a tautology.)
In "morning sunrise" the tautology is "morning" because sunrises are a subset of mornings; removing the first word removes no meaning. (The addition of "morning" may be aesthetically more pleasing, in a poem for example, but it remains a logical tautology.)
by Bob Stein September 10, 2008