A Paradox That Will Make Your Brain Implode

A heterological word means a word that does not describe itself. Does the word “heterological” describe itself?

Here is one self-referential paradoxes that kept past and modern mathematicians and logicians up at night. Trying to solve an ever ending puzzle.

An example of a heterological word is “verb,” which is not a verb (as opposed to “noun,” which is itself a noun). Another example is “long,” which is not a long word (as opposed to “short,” which is a short word).

So is “heterological” a heterological word? If it were a word that didn’t describe itself, then it would describe itself; but if it did describe itself, then it would not be a word that described itself.

Take a moment to let that sink in.