Meta

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The Jargon File

Parts of this article are based on the Jargon File, v. 4.4.7,
a public domain document of hacker jargon.

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meta
/me´t@/
/may´t@/
/mee´t@/
Usage: pref.
Derivation: From analytic philosophy

See Also: hacker humor


meta: /me´t@/ /may´t@/ /mee´t@/ pref.

[from analytic philosophy] One level of description up. A metasyntactic variable is a variable in notation used to describe syntax, and meta-language is language used to describe language. This is difficult to explain briefly, but much hacker humor turns on deliberate confusion between meta-levels. See hacker humor.

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Sources

Source: meta, in The Jargon File, version 4.4.7.


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