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up vote 5 down vote favorite

Eg.

Saline water does not contain salt.

So it is a __ statement. What is the word that should fill in the blank?

This statement is clearly making itself wrong in its later part. What should it be called?

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Bad example as it is a good sentence. One could extend it: 'Saline water does not contain salt, it contains disolved salt ions.' – Julian Jan 5 at 8:49
I wrote it casually. Did not think to the deep! – Mistu4u Jan 5 at 16:59
So, we need a word for a statement which at first sight looks wrong, but is actually correct. – Julian Jan 5 at 17:37

4 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

I like self-refuting.

  • self-contradictory and self-refuting imply an logical contradiction
  • oxymoron implies only a surface contradiction, like the living dead or jumbo shrimp
  • paradoxical implies a genuine question about its truth value
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up vote 8 down vote

It is said to be self-contradictory.

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up vote 8 down vote

Incongruous, inconsistent, or paradoxical is sufficient.

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up vote -1 down vote

Another word for a self-contradictory statement is oxymoron.

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NO! A self-contradictory statement contains an error (in meaning). An oxymoron is a paradox, a statement etc that appears to contain a self-contradiction but makes sense on deeper analysis, encapsulated in a very few words. There is a vast difference. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 5 at 17:12

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