On what page of Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach (GEB) is the paragraph he quotes which is syntactically correct but almost completely void of any meaning except for a very esoteric group of specialists? Hofstadter used it to illustrate the importance of context in meaning, as well as the difference between syntax and semantics.
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1There is another phrase which I learned in linguistics class to illustrate this distinction: "More people have been to Paris than I have".– Niel de BeaudrapFeb 20, 2014 at 12:40
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@NieldeBeaudrap: ☺ Hofstadter's example was paragraph length, though, and I think it might've been just one sentence. I wish I could find it; it's been since about year 2000 since I read GEB. thanks for the help– GeremiaFeb 20, 2014 at 18:15
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According to this link, there is a section starting on page 630 dealing with Syntax and Semantics : egodeath.com/geb.htm– nwrSep 4, 2015 at 3:23