She said, 'Spell 'ant'', and I wrote out the entire alphabet. She said, 'That doesn't spell 'ant'', and I said, 'It's in there somewhere! There's the 'A', there's the 'N', there's the 'T' - the rest are silent!'
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Izzard jokes that the word ant is spelled correctly because the letters appear in the alphabet.
- In plain terms
- He claims ant is in the alphabet because it uses existing letters.
- What can you take from it?
- Literal interpretations can create absurd logic.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do we define correct answers?
- When is literalism useful?
Another view
The logic is nonsensical and ignores actual spelling rules.
More from Eddie Izzard
Agatha Christie? We go back years, me and Ag. She's a : she's just a : she's dead, isn't she?
Permalink to quote #68 And we're going 'Oh, Captain Clever! Whoahoho! Rattle it and if it doesn't go off, it can't be a bomb!'
Permalink to quote #70 Religion and philosophy, philosophy and religion - they're two words which are both : different. In spelling.
Permalink to quote #67
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