UBIQUITY IS EVERYWHERE
-- Bumper-sticker by Victoria Elson
 he
book on semantics was chock full of quotations, each chosen to exemplify
a specific case of word usage or to illustrate a principle of expression.
The selections were notable, too, for their literary excellence, most having
been taken from the works of great authors. One quotation caught my attention.
I found myself, a page or two later, still enjoying it. Idly curious about
its authorship, I turned back and checked the footnote.
"S. I. Hayakawa," it said. Hmm, I hmmed to myself.
A thought struck me: Why, Hayakawa is the author of the text itself!
The exclamation point was right there in that thought -- but not the next
one: Authors do reference their own works. I re-read the quotation.
Good stuff. Might like to read more of it. I perused the
rest of the footnote. Sure enough, the citation was for the book
I was holding in my hands. And for the page I was reading. "Hah," I exclaimed
to myself, "a self-referent reference!"
Here's another: Many of the essays I write apply
self-reference (see, for example, elegancelessness).
Take that, Sam.
|
Self Referent Rebus --
A
riddle composed
of words or syllables depicted by symbols or
pictures that suggest the sound of the words
or syllables they represent.
Latin rebus, "by things."
|
 elf-reference
ramifies to many realms of thought, abstruse as well as humorous. I delight
in the form probably more than most people. Much of my thought-life
has drawn a unifying theme from self-reference. "Never say never!"
-- probably the first example I ever heard -- fascinated me as a child.
My own first concoction appeared in grammar school: "I never repeat myself;
I never repeat myself."
Here is my worst, which I published in our high school
newspaper...
Is this sentence (parenthetical statements provide auxiliary
information but, if inserted in the wrong place, will disrupt the flow)
a question, even though it ends with a "period"?
...and my best, in junior college...
All generalities have exceptions, except this one.
My studies at the university included
Bertrand Russell and self-referent reasoning...
| Form a class of all classes which include themselves.
Does it include itself? The answer is yes, it includes itself, therefore
it must be included in the class of all classes which include themselves. |
| Form a class of all classes which do not include themselves.
Does it include itself? If the answer is yes, it includes itself, then
it is not a class which does not include itself and therefore must not
be included in the class of all classes which do not include themselves,
so the answer is no, it does not include itself, it is a class which does
not include itself and therefore must be included in the class of all classes
which do not include themselves, so the answer is yes, it includes itself,
then it is not a class which does not include itself and therefore must
not be included in the class of all classes which do not include themselves,
so the answer is... |
Which raises a few self-referent
questions...
-
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
-
Why not ask rhetorical questions?
Television game show in which the host gives
answers and the contestants ask questions.
-- What is Jeopardy?
|
-
Is there another word for 'synonym'?
-
What is the opposite word for 'antonym'?
A venerable teaser (O T T F F S S ___
) has taken the form of a self-referent puzzle...
| WHAT IS THE NEXT LETTER IN THIS SERIES?
W I T N L I T ____
|
Here are a few self-referent
observations...
-
There are two kinds of essayists in the world: those who
say there are two kinds of essayists in the world and those who do not.
-
Human nature would be remarkable, were it not that so many
people
suffer from it.
-
It is alright to write all right but not vice versa.
-
Procrastination cannot be put off until later.
-
There is a whole lot of gerunding going on.
-
It is impossible to disprove the impossible.
-
When you least expect it, expect it.
-
Individualism is always in style.
|
As alliteration for
flatulence,
"pungent pneumatics" stinks.
|
...plus a pair of self-referent
oxymorons...
-
self-help books
-
wishful thinking
...along with self-referent insincerity...
-
If you think my apology is not sincere because of that 'if'
in it, I am sincerely sorry.
...and a self-referent rant...
-
My opponent is going around fixing blame for the problem
instead of fixing the problem.
...plus a self-referent
aphorism...
-
Vulgaris aphorism contradico nutus in Latin. (An
ordinary aphorism gains gravitas in Latin)...
Operor non fatigo super mule,
iustus sarcina plaustrum.
(Don't worry about the mule,
just load the wagon.)
|
...or a self-referent pronunciation
guide...
-
There are at least two ways to pronounce orthoepy,
which means the study of the pronunciation of words (or-THO-uh-pee or OR-tho-ep-ee).
...plus a self-referent spelling correction...
It may be all right to say the word "alright"
out loud but alwrong to write it.
...alongside a self-referent font guide:
italic,
bold,
underline,
color.
| "I never sign anonymous letters."
-- [Name withheld.]
|
...and finally a self-referent
transclusion.
 
 he
four self-referent limericks set forth below
(author unknown) are my favorites so far...
There was a young girl from Japan,
Whose poetry never would scan.
When she was asked why,
She said with a sigh,
"It's because I always try to include as many words in the
last line as I can." |
There was a young boy from China,
Whose poetry was really much finer.
His limericks tend
To come to an end
Suddenly. |
There was a young girl from Peru,
Whose limericks end at line two. |
| There was a young man from Verdun. |
Any machine desiring to demonstrate
the automation of thought cannot expect to get by with mere prose. I dare
to suppose that one might someday program itself for the production of
self-referent
doggerel...
From this limerick computers derive
Simulation of what is alive,
Rhyming numbers galore
From line three with line four,
And line one with line two and line five.
-- Ana Pest 1994
|
...followed by self-referent
mathematical definitions.
Published by permission of mightywombat.com.
...or for that matter self-referent
Haiku.
Haiku's mandated
Five, seven, five form totals
Seventeen syllab |
 n
the meantime, I periodically distinguish myself from byte-mongering, siliconized
souls by pecking out self-referent sentences:
|
This sentence refers to itself.
The eighth word in this sentence is last. The last word
in this sentence is eighth. The second word in this sentence is second;
so is the eighth. The last word in this sentence is second. So is the first
word in this sentence.
Since the third word in this sentence is third, so is
the ninth. Since the third word in this sentence is third, so is the tenth.
Since the second word in this sentence is not second, then it must be the
third. Since the second word in this sentence is not second, then it must
be the tenth. Since the second word in this sentence is not second, then
it must be the twelfth. Since the second word in this sentence is not second,
then it must be the.
The ninth to last word in this sentence is ninth. The
seventh to last word in this sentence is last. In this sentence, the fourth
to last word is last. There are ten words in this sentence not counting
this one. The last word in this sentence has three syllables.
Words, words, words (there are three words in this sentence).
Words, words, words (there are four words in this sentence). Words, words,
words, (there are eleven words in this sentence).
Since there are not twelve words in this sentence, there
is one more. Since there are not twelve words in this sentence, there is
one less. Since there are not twelve words in this sentence, there are
two words.
This sentence ends with more than one period. There are
three "quotation marks" in this sentence. Does this sentence have a question
mark. This sentence has a question mark? For emphasis, this sentence needs
an exclamation point.
And this sentence should not have begun with a conjunction.
This sentence is not pointless. This sentence does not deny its pointlessness.
Since this sentence has a point, it is the sixth word.
The first letter of this sentence is T, while the first
letter of "this sentence" is t, and the first letter of this "sentence"
is s. The last word in this sentence is spelled sdrawkcab. The last word
in this sentence is spelled backwards. The last word in this sentence is
spelled.
Plurals are plurals in this sentence. Singular is singular
in this sentence. Plural is singular in this sentence. Singulars are plural
in this sentence. Plurals is singular in this sentence. Singulars is singular
in this sentence.
This sentence is written in the passive voice. This sentence
was written in the past tense. This sentence is in the present tense. This
sentence will be finished not in the future but now. This sentence would
have been expressed in the subjunctive mood.
This sentence's form is genitive. The genitive's form
in this sentence is genitive. The apostrophe in this sentence assures that
it's not genitive. The it's apostrophe in this sentence makes it genitive.
The lack of an apostrophe in this sentence assures its genitive form. This
sentence's genitive's form's apostrophe's appearances express four possessives.
This sentence advises the reader to never split an infinitive.
Not to split an infinitive or to not split an infinitive, this sentence
advises to never do both or always to do neither.
This is the sentence that a preposition appears at the
end of. Of this sentence, the preposition appears at the beginning.
This sentence begins and ends with this. This sentence
uses each word once. This sentence repeats the word twice twice. This sentence
does not use the word once once. There is one repetition in this sentence.
There is only one word in this sentence.
This sentence is missing a vowel in the last wrd. This
sentence lacks two vwls in the middle word. This sentence proves that cnsnts
need vowels. This sentence proves that a oe needs consonants. Ever other
wrd in tis sentence as one mising letter. The last word in this sentence
is incompl. There is one abbr. in this sentence. This sent.
has two abbrevs. Look for two Capitalizations in this sentence.
How many Capitalized Letters are in this sentence?
This sentence uses underlining for italics.
In this sentence italics are not used for emphasis, but bolding
is. Bolding is used for emphasis in this sentence
instead of italics.
There are not two negatives in this sentence. There is
not one negative in this sentence. This sentence contains a truth. This
sentence contains a falsehood. Since this sentence has nine words, it is
true. Since this sentence has nine words, it is false. Since this sentence
has one word, it is true. Since this sentence has more than one word, it
is false. In this sentence nothing is true.
Count the words in this sentence before you read it. Since
this sentence is false, do not read it. Without the tenth word, this sentence
would have no end. This sentence ends with beginning. Ending is at the
beginning of this sentence.
Niquette is the first name in this sentence. The last
name in this sentence is Paul.
Is this the last sentence?
|
Then there is the self-referent
acronym...
Alphabetic
Codes
Representing
Official
Nomenclature
Yielding
Memorability |
...along with a self-referent
hoax at...
...and a self-referent
palindrome...
|
'aibohphobia' -- the fear of palindromes
|
...plus a self-referent
acronym, also called a "backronym"...
...oh, well, there is a neat collection
of self-referent jokes to which I have offered
one of my own from five decades ago...
...just before a self-referent
script at a reference page...
"Enter your word," commands the window.
So you type nothing.
"Aw come on!" complains the dictionary. |
...and here, a self-referent
non sequitur of some kind...
All Indians walk in single file.
At least the one I saw did
|
...interspersed with a self-referent
figure of speech...
| Litotes is not a word with
insignificant utility and not without unavoidable difficulty. The
use of litotes is not ill advised but never excludes those who are unwilling
to withold the requisite untrivial effort for clarity and thereby avoid
inconsiderable confusion for hardly the least uninformed listener. |
...not to mention Blaise Pascal's self-referent
moral...
| Few men speak humbly of humility, chastely of chastity,
skeptically of skepticism. |
...and Paul Niquette's Self-Proving
Theorem...
Men celebrate gender differences;
women deny them.
|
| For confirmation, simply quote the Theorem in mixed company
and observe how the ensuing argument polarizes along gender lines: men
pro, women con. |
...alongside Douglas Hofstadter's self-violating
law...
Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than
you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's
Law.
— Gödel, Escher, Bach: An
Eternal Golden Braid
|
 et's
get down to business. What is the ideal growth rate for an enterprise?
The answer is 17.65717% per year -- a unique, self-referent
number, which I solemnly
derived
during the last quarter of the Twentieth Century as follows:
An enterprise growing at the rate of exactly 17.65717%
per year will become exactly 17.65717 times larger in exactly...
17 years, seven months, 29 days, and 21 hours
...which is exactly 17.65717 years. |
A self-referent Q&A (author
forgotten, if ever known)...
Which is worse, ignorance or apathy?
I don't know and I don't care.
|
Finally, here's a try at a self-referent
wish...
| "Tell me your third wish," commanded the genie.
"Hey!" I exclaimed. "What about my first two?"
"Your second wish was to forget all the thoughts revealed
by your first wish."
"On the contrary, I wish I could remember everything I
have ever thought!"
"That was your first wish," said the genie.
"And now your third." Suddenly -- poof -- the genie was gone. |
Thus, on a day chock-full of useful
things to do, I set about to coin a self-referent
word, for which I have yet to find any use, apart from including
it here.
elegancelessness1.
Lacking in refinement and
awkward in movement, appearance, or manners.
2. Distastefully opulent in form or presentation. |
Epilog
Five years went by
after the unpromoted apperarance of Elegancelessness.
On June 2, 2002, I received a succinct message, which may have been intended
as a self-referent criticism of this page...
What about
"bushfulness" (unabashed and unbashful blundering)? But a worthy
site.
...from Scott Rice, who,
in consultation with Julianne Presson, maintains the Bulwer-Lytton
Fiction Contest website, to which year after year I make solemn
submittals, the most recent being a self-referent
entry.
Update
Over the span of a
dozen years 1997-2009, the worldwide populartity of "self reference" has
become astronomical. Bing turns up 264 million results for "self
reference."
I am gratified, not to say relieved, to find that this particular eccentricity
is not -- well, off-centered (groan). Perhaps the most scholarly
collection appears at Cut-the-Knot. |
