Sunday Rest: metamathematics. Word Not To Use Today.

There's nothing wrong with this word, really - metamathematics consists, very neatly, of three trochaic feet,* with all the strong stresses beginning with an m and the weak ones with a t - so to be honest my only objection to the word is the deep terror the mere sight of it arouses.

And that's only because I used not to know what it meant.

Sunday Rest: metamathematics. No, it's all right, this isn't some arcane way of doing mathematics with mathematics; it's the study of the way that mathematical symbols work.



Phew.

Meta- is Greek and it can mean more or less anything - with, after, between, etc - and mathematics comes from the Greek mathēma, a science, and is related to manthanein, to learn.

* A trochaic foot is made up of two syllables stressed DAH-da.