ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Grelling paradox

The Grelling paradox is a tricky puzzle that involves words and their meanings. Imagine you have two words: "short" and "long." Now, let's ask a question: Is the word "short" a short word or a long word?

At first, you might say that "short" is a short word because it only has five letters. But then you might also argue that "short" is a long word because it describes something that is not long.

Similarly, you could ask the same question about the word "long." Is "long" a long word or a short word? If you say "long" is a long word, then it should describe something long, so it should be considered short.

This conundrum is known as the Grelling paradox. It shows how difficult it can be to define words and concepts based on their own characteristics.

In the end, this paradox reminds us that language is complicated and that words can have multiple meanings and interpretations, making it challenging to make solid and consistent rules or definitions around them.
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