non sequitur

See also: nonsequitur and non-sequitur

English

WOTD – 3 July 2007

Alternative forms

• non-sequitur, nonsequitur

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin nōn sequitur (literally “it does not follow”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌnɒn ˈsɛk.wɪ.tə/
• (General American, dialects of Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌnɑn ˈsɛk.wɪ.tɚ/

  • Audio (California); [ˌnɑn ˈsɛk.wɪ.ɾɚ]:

    (file)

• (Canada, dialects of the US) IPA^(key): /ˌnɒn ˈsɛk.wɪ.tɚ/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˌnɔn ˈsek.wɪ.tə/

  • Audio (Queensland):

    (file)

Noun

Examples (logical fallacy)
“All ravens are black; this object is black; therefore, this object is a raven.”

Examples (humor)
“Take my wife – please.” (Henny Youngman) “If all the girls who attended the Yale prom were laid end to end, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised.” (Dorothy Parker) “A fool and his money are soon partying.” (Steven Wright)

non sequitur (plural non sequiturs or non sequuntur)

1. (narratology) Any abrupt and inexplicable transition or occurrence.

   Having a costumed superhero abduct the vicar was an utter non sequitur in the novel.

   • 1980 May 13, Anatole Broyard, “Books of The Times”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     Non sequiturs, gratuitous acts, frustrating ellipses, ambiguities, a dearth of emotion: Miss [Lillian] Hellman avails herself of all these current techniques in telling a story that she keeps telling us may not be a story at all.

2. (logic) Any invalid argument in which the conclusion cannot be logically deduced from the premises.

   Synonym: fallacy

   Antonym: sequitur

3. A statement that does not logically follow a statement that preceded it.
   • 2012 August 5, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “I Love Lisa” (season 4, episode 15; originally aired 02/11/1993)”, in AV Club‎:

     Ralph Wiggum is generally employed as a bottomless fount of glorious non sequiturs, but in “I Love Lisa” he stands in for every oblivious chump who ever deluded himself into thinking that with persistence, determination, and a pure heart he can win the girl of his dreams.

4. (comedy) A kind of pun that uses a change of word, subject, or meaning to make a joke of the listener’s expectation.

   Coordinate term: paraprosdokian

Usage notes

• The legitimate plural forms of non sequitur include the Anglicised non sequiturs and the Classical non sequuntur; non sequituri is also attested, but is rare, non-standard, and misformed.

• In sense “abrupt transition”, contrast with segue (“move smoothly from one subject to another”), which is etymologically opposite (“does not follow” vs. “follow”). However, segue has connotations of moving between distinct subjects, and thus to segue often means to change rather abruptly, with at best a pretense of smooth transition – in both cases there is often a rapid move between distinct subjects, with the distinction being whether this is done smoothly or not.

Derived terms

• nonsequitous
• nonsequiturial

Related terms

• sequence
• anacoluthon

Translations

any abrupt and inexplicable transition or occurrence

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Dutch: please add this translation if you can Esperanto: please add this translation if you can Finnish: selittämätön siirtymä, non sequitur French: please add this translation if you can German: Gedankensprung m Greek: ανακολουθία (el) f (anakolouthía) Ido: please add this translation if you can Interlingua: please add this translation if you can Polish: coś bez związku n Romanian: please add this translation if you can Russian: please add this translation if you can Spanish: please add this translation if you can Volapük: please add this translation if you can

invalid argument

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Dutch: non sequitur m or n, onterechte conclusie f Esperanto: please add this translation if you can Finnish: väärä johtopäätös, non sequitur, ei seuraa French: non sequitur (fr) m German: unlogisches Argument n, Nonsens (de) m, Fehlschluss (de) m Greek: ανακολουθία (el) f (anakolouthía) Ido: please add this translation if you can Interlingua: please add this translation if you can Polish: non sequitur (pl) m inan, błąd wnioskowania m inan Romanian: please add this translation if you can Russian: нелогичное заключение n (nelogičnoje zaključenije) Spanish: incongruencia (es) f, non sequitur m (non sékuitur) Volapük: please add this translation if you can

statement that does not logically follow a statement that came before it

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Dutch: please add this translation if you can Esperanto: please add this translation if you can Finnish: väärä johtopäätös French: please add this translation if you can German: please add this translation if you can Greek: please add this translation if you can Ido: please add this translation if you can Interlingua: please add this translation if you can Polish: stwierdzenie bez związku n Romanian: please add this translation if you can Russian: please add this translation if you can Spanish: please add this translation if you can Volapük: please add this translation if you can

kind of pun

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Dutch: please add this translation if you can Esperanto: please add this translation if you can Finnish: non sequitur -sanaleikki French: please add this translation if you can German: please add this translation if you can Greek: please add this translation if you can Ido: please add this translation if you can Interlingua: please add this translation if you can Polish: żart polegający na założeniu słuchacza m Romanian: please add this translation if you can Russian: please add this translation if you can Spanish: please add this translation if you can Volapük: please add this translation if you can

See also

• apropos of nothing
• deus ex machina
• fallacy
• paradox
• what does that have to do with the price of tea in China

Further reading

• non sequitur on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• logical fallacy on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• list of fallacies on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Dutch

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin nōn sequitur (literally “it does not follow”).

Noun

non sequitur m or n (plural non sequiturs, diminutive [please provide])

1. (logic) non sequitur (invalid argument)

Further reading

• van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “nonsequitur”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin nōn sequitur (literally “it does not follow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɔ̃ s(ə).ki.tyʁ/
• Hyphenation: non se‧qui‧tur

Noun

non sequitur m

1. (logic) non sequitur (invalid argument)

Latin

Etymology

Literally, “it does not follow”.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈnoːn ˈsɛ.kʷɪ.tʊr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈnɔn ˈsɛː.kʷi.tur]
• Hyphenation: nōn se‧qui‧tur

Phrase

nōn sequitur

1. (logic) (This entry is a descendant hub.) non sequitor (invalid argument)

Descendants

• → English: non sequitur
• → Dutch: non sequitur
• → French: non sequitur
• → Polish: non sequitur

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin nōn sequitur (literally “it does not follow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɔn sɛˈkfi.tur/
• Syllabification: non se‧qui‧tur

Noun

non sequitur m inan (indeclinable)

1. (logic) non sequitur (invalid argument)
   • 2005, Tomasz P[iotr]. Terlikowski, “W poszukiwaniu Absolutu”, in Ozon, number 22, Warszawa:

     Moim zdaniem jest to jednak błąd non sequitur [polega on na tym, że wniosek nie wypływa logicznie z przesłanek — nawet jeśli są one prawdziwe — przyp. red.]: równość w wymiarze eschatologicznym nie może być uzasadnieniem równości ekonomicznej.

     In my opinion however it is a non sequitur error [it means, that a conclusion does not logically result from premises — even if they are real — editor's note]: equality in the eschatological dimension cannot be the justification of the economic dimension.

Further reading

• non sequitur in Polish dictionaries at PWN