The logic of indexicals
July 20, 2007For the 1.7 of you out there that care about such things: At 7-1/2, Oz is a pretty competent speaker of the language. But he generated a strange construction yesterday which seems to violate the normal logic of indexicals.
Context: It’s the last day of day camp for a kid that Oz has become very friendly with, and so he’s sorry to see his friend leave. So, he says:
I wish today were a year from now.
On a pretty standard logic of indexicals, that’s literally incoherent. But in context, it makes perfect sense.
One Response to “The logic of indexicals”
HA!
Another good one: “No, ya can’t get no beer here.”
By Bob on Jul 20, 2007