Gostak
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The phrase "the gostak distims the doshes" was coined in 1923 by C. K. Ogden and I. A. Richards in their book The Meaning of Meaning. It is an example of how it is possible to derive meaning from the syntax of a sentence even if the referents of the terms are entirely unknown. This can be seen in the following dialogue:
Q: What is the gostak?
A: The gostak is that which distims the doshes.
Q: What's distimming?
A: Distimming is that which the gostak does to the doshes.
Q: Okay, but what are doshes?
A: The doshes are what the gostak distims.
In this case, it is possible to describe the relationships between the terms in the sentence -- that the gostak is that which distims the doshes, that distimming is what the gostak does to the doshes, etc. -- even though there is no fact of the matter about what a gostak or doshes actually are.
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[edit] In science fiction
In Amazing Stories, Dr. Miles Breuer wrote a story, now considered a classic, titled "The Gostak and the Doshes". Other writers have picked up on the reference, notably David Gerrold.
[edit] In interactive fiction
The phrase is the namesake of a unique interactive fiction game called The Gostak, written by Carl Muckenhoupt. Most of the text of the game is in an entirely unknown language which the player must decipher. For example, the game opens with the following text:
- Glauds! How rorm it would be to pell back to the bewl and distunk them, distunk the whole delcot, let the drokes discren them.
The Gostak won the 1999 XYZZY Award for Best Use of Medium.
