sentence coined by Noam Chomsky to describe proper syntax with improper semantics
Approximate representation of Colorless green ideas sleep furiously
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously was composed by Noam Chomsky in his 1957 book Syntactic Structures as an example of a sentence that is grammatically well-formed, but semantically nonsensical. The sentence was … Wikipedia
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Colorless_green_ideas_sleep_furiously
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously - Wikipedia
2 weeks ago - Colorless green ideas sleep furiously was composed by Noam Chomsky in his 1957 book Syntactic Structures as an example of a sentence that is grammatically well-formed, but semantically nonsensical. The sentence was originally used in his 1955 thesis The Logical Structure of Linguistic Theory ...
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Strings of sound can be given an interpretation in at least two ways. The usual method, whereby we typically define "possible interpretation", is "strictly using the rules of the grammar in this language". Another method – the one typically used by the overwhelming majority of humans – is "using any and all evidence and methods available". The latter method is extremely useful when called on by individuals attempting to communicate, who do not have a common language: it allows one to be understood, even when you massively violate the rules of grammar.

There are many pre-compiled strings that are used in language differently from what you would expect given literal semantics, for example "pot calling the kettle black" is literally an absurdity. Moreover, the actual interpretation of the utterance cannot be related by rule to word meaning and principles of compositional semantics.

The answer to your question depends on having an explicit theory of lexical meaning, syntax, and semantic composition. It presupposes that syntactic distribution is blind to semantic properties – a possible but not logically-necessary position. All attempts that I am aware of to compose the meaning of strings from the meaning of the components (including abstract "thematic role" marking) are very general – they say that you can can combine "P", "x" and "y" to derive the proposition "P(x,y)" as well as "P(y,x)". In such compositional theories, all well-formed sentences have a semantic interpretation. But: not all such propositions describe actually-possible states of affairs. Avicenna's defense of the law of non-contradiction ("Those who deny the first principle should be flogged or burned until they admit that it is not the same thing to be burned and not burned, or whipped and not whipped") reminds us that we can conceptualize things that do not exist, and that contradict the nature of the universe.

In other words, it depends on what you mean by "mean". If you think meaning is about actual states of affairs in the real world, then it's easy to construct grammatically well-formed strings that have no meaning because they don't describe facts. I just think that is the wrong theory of meaning.

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The entire poem Jaberwocky (sp) is completely nonsensical, but completely grammatically correct.

Discussions

syntax - Are there different "kinds" of meaningless sentences? - Linguistics Stack Exchange
There is famous sentences by Chomsky ("Colorless green ideas sleep furiously") to show that syntactically sentences can by devoid of meaning, or at least have a very odd or dubious meanin... More on linguistics.stackexchange.com
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terminology - Is there a linguistics term meaning "it's grammatically correct, but nobody says that"? - Linguistics Stack Exchange
I think phrases such as this one ... or "meaningless". ... @William I learned it as a specific term, but I don't know how widespread that usage is outside of semantics classes. ... I don't think the question is about semantically invalid sentences. Chomsky's example doesn't make sense in any language, despite being syntactically correct... More on linguistics.stackexchange.com
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January 27, 2020
semantics - Semantically meaningless words - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
Is there a linguistic term for words which are semantically meaningless in English? For example, suppose we have the sentence: Although he already has a car, he bought a new one. Here, although w... More on english.stackexchange.com
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syntactic analysis - Syntactically correct, semantically incorrect sentence - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
How would I answer the following programming exercise? It's trying to emphasize the difference between semantics and syntax. Write an English sentence that has correct syntax but has semantic err... More on english.stackexchange.com
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June 11, 2011
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QuillBot
quillbot.com › home › sentences that make no sense | explanation & examples
Sentences That Make No Sense | Explanation & Examples
October 28, 2025 - A sentence that makes no sense is grammatically correct but carries no discernible meaning.
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Quora
quora.com › What-are-some-sentences-that-are-grammatically-correct-but-feel-wrong-when-you-hear-them
What are some sentences that are grammatically correct but feel wrong when you hear them? - Quora
Garden-path sentences (syntactically valid but misleading) ... Feels wrong because initial parse treats “old” as adjective, not noun; surprise when “man” is a verb. ... Feels wrong because reader expects a main verb after “raced,” then must reparse. ... Sentences that are grammatically correct but feel wrong often violate expectations about meaning, emphasis, prosody, or pragmatic norms.
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Drmarkwomack
drmarkwomack.com › engl-1301 › assignments › writing-exercises › nonsense-sentences
Nonsense Sentences – Dr. Mark Womack
A nonsense sentence has a logical, grammatical structure but no content or meaning. ... Neither makes any sense, but the first is grammatically correct; it has a subject and a verb, and it has adjectives and adverbs that modify the subject and verb correctly.
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Daily Cal
dailycal.org › archives › 6-sentences-that-literally-make-no-sense-but-are-still-correct › article_f0338c11-0270-5ab8-8a83-ed552e72d556.html
6 sentences that literally make no sense but are still correct | Archives | dailycal.org
November 20, 2018 - There is no possible way this sentence is correct. I mean, it’s literally the same word, repeated eight times. This is where the loopholes and tricky trickeries of the English language come into play.There are three meanings of the word “buffalo” used here: ... I suppose the buffalo in Buffalo caused me to do some real thinking. Are there any other convoluted, unnecessarily bizarre sentences that exist in the English language?
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Academic Kids
academickids.com › encyclopedia › index.php › Colorless_green_ideas_sleep_furiously
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously - Academic Kids
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously is a sentence composed by Noam Chomsky in 1957 as an example of a sentence whose grammar is correct but whose meaning is nonsensical. The phrase suggests that grammar is not the fundamental structure underlying language, as was thought at the time.
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Wikidoc
wikidoc.org › index.php › Colorless_green_ideas_sleep_furiously
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously - wikidoc
Another approach is to create a syntactically-correct, easily parseable sentence using nonsense words; a famous such example is "The gostak distims the doshes". Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky is also famous for using this technique, although in this case for literary purposes. Other "meaningless utterances" are ones that make sense, are grammatical, but have no reference to the real world, such as "The present Queen of France rides a unicorn."
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PickWriters
pickwriters.com › blog › weird-sentences-in-english-language
Weird Sentences in the English Language and Their Meaning
October 21, 2020 - In reality, this’s how it should look like: “James, while John had had “had”, had had “had had”; “had had” had had a better effect on their teacher.” Are you still confused?
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Quora
quora.com › What-is-an-example-of-a-sentence-that-has-no-meaning-but-is-still-meaningful
What is an example of a sentence that has no meaning but is still meaningful? - Quora
Answer: What is an example of a sentence that has no meaning but is still meaningful? Taking your question literally, it is logically impossible for anything to have a certain quality and also not have that quality. Taking what I think you are really asking, “What is an example of something mea...
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Collins Dictionary
collinsdictionary.com › us › sentences › english › meaningless
Example sentences with MEANINGLESS | Collins English Sentences
But meaningless baseball is now over. ... Equality is meaningless in times of austerity. ... One of the themes of the night has been how meaningless these gongs are. ... Radical policies such as rail nationalisation were rejected in favour of ...
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Answers
answers.com › english-language-arts › Why_are_some_grammatical_sentences_meaningless
Why are some grammatical sentences meaningless? - Answers
April 28, 2022 - Assuming you mean "how" and not "why" ( since that is unanswerable) a grammatical sentence may be meaningless, it is possible a number of ways. It may be contain nonsense words like "runcible" or "superfragilisticexpialidocious" that seem as if they ought to mean something but in fact do not, or it may be made of words that simply do not go together meaningfully, for example "The moon is yesterday."
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YourDictionary
sentence.yourdictionary.com › home › meaningless
Examples of "Meaningless" in a Sentence | YourDictionary.com
It was this definite basis of ethical Mosaic religion to which the prophets of the 8th century appealed, and apart from which their denunciations become meaningless. ... On the 7th of June he issued a decree conferring the dignity of viceroy on Eugene de Beauharnais, his stepson; but everything showed that Napoleon's will was to be law; and the great powers at once saw that Napoleon's promise to keep the crowns of France and Italy separate was meaningless.
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Mozilla Discourse
discourse.mozilla.org › t › validating-meaningless-sentences-in-the-sentence-collector › 37129
Validating meaningless sentences in the Sentence Collector? - Common Voice - Mozilla Discourse
March 18, 2019 - Hi all, in the french corpus of the Sentence Collector, I’m seeing recently quite a bunch of grammatically correct but completly meaningless sentences (like “I’m driving my pizza with an elephant on my cheese”). What ar…
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Teslontario
blog.teslontario.org › meaningless-grammarisms
Meaningless Grammarisms | TESL Ontario Blog
October 28, 2019 - After all, it is, my job to teach students the most grammatically correct English I can, and meaningless grammarisms, while irrelevant, are errors nonetheless. However, if I have a struggling student who has countless other errors to correct, these grammarisms are the first mistakes I overlook. What about you? Do you correct these kinds of errors? Can you think of any other meaningless grammarisms? ... Grammar isn’t meaningless. Yes, it should be corrected. ... Love the post, but I’d call them “less important” grammarisms, not meaningless.