Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Metaprime Examples

A metaprime example is an example that is self-referential. It folds back on itself, ironically. Some metaprime examples are intentional. Some are whimsical while others are serious, and still others are happily ignorant and innocent. Therefore, in saying "a prime example" as an example of a "very good" example, "a prime example," although compromised in its overuse, nevertheless becomes its very own metaprime example incarnate. On the other hand "prime farmland," for example, is not a “metaprime” example. Here it just means "very good."

No comments:

Post a Comment

You can use some HTML tags.