We are all familiar with user manuals or documents with pages printed with "intentionally blank" . but with those words on them, they are no longer blank! I'm pretty sure I saw a user manual once with pages like this:
We were going to say this page is intentionally blank, but once we did, we realized it isn't blank any more.
Would there be a better way of expressing this concept? Such as "intentionally conveys no useful information"? (Except, now it does - it conveys that it has no useful information)
asked Jul 3, 2015 at 7:48 Nick Gammon Nick Gammon 495 2 2 silver badges 13 13 bronze badgesSeriously, we're you puzzled by the intentionally blank thing or are you just testing out material that will make you the next Jerry Seinfeld?
Commented Jul 3, 2015 at 7:56i once saw a sign on the inside of a shop window in Norwich which said "No posters or signs of any kind whatsoever are to be fixed to this window". I relished the insistence on self-inclusion!
Commented Jul 3, 2015 at 8:20 Ignore this page Commented Jul 3, 2015 at 8:32 “This page intentionally left blank. This text is not here. There is no spoon.” Commented Jul 3, 2015 at 8:49I have seen wording along the lines of "This page contains no meaningful information" (not exactly what I've seen but something like that). However, the "intentionally left blank" idiom is so well known and understood (and a source of mild amusement in otherwise dry documents) that there's no reason to change it.