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A word is autological if it describes itself. For example, pentasyllabic has five syllables and thus is autological.

A word is heterological if it does not describe itself. For example, monosyllabic has five syllables and thus is heterological.

Puzzle: Find

  1. A word that cannot be either autological or heterological.
  2. A word that can equally well be either autological or heterological.
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2 Answers 2

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For 1:

Heterological

because

it describes itself iff it does not describe itself, so it is contradictory to call it either autological or heterological.

For 2:

Autological

because

it does not produce any contradictions, whether you call it autological or heterological.

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  • $\begingroup$ So the answers are in the question itself. $\endgroup$ Aug 29, 2016 at 23:40
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For number 2 I'd suggest

Understood

because

Depending on who reads it (English speaker or non English speaker) they will either understand it or not.

others in a similar vain

readable, writable

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    $\begingroup$ the "similar vain" actually has autological words... $\endgroup$
    – EKons
    Aug 30, 2016 at 11:54

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