Reverse snowball¶
reverse_snowball · letter · validated
A text in which each word is exactly one letter shorter than the word before it.
Provenance¶
- Source: Oulipo, La Littérature potentielle (1973), as fonte de neige
- Attribution:
reference— attested in a standard reference rather than traced to an origin - Checkability:
self— decidable from the text and its parameters alone - Attested:
codified— formulated as a rule by a tradition rather than declared by an author
Details¶
- Kind: restrictive
- Languages: en, de, fr
- Requires:
tokens - Deterministic: yes
- Also known as: melting snowball
- In other languages: Umgekehrter Schneeball (de), Boule de neige fondante (fr)
Prompt hint¶
Write a sentence whose words shrink by exactly one letter each, ending in a single letter.
Parameters¶
| Name | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
start |
— | None |
Length of the first word; inferred if unset. |
step |
integer | -1 |
Letters removed per word. |
Examples¶
borgmann-rhopalic-reversed¶
en — this text satisfies the procedure.
handwriting perplexing illegibly acquired doctors family where know not do I
Source: Dmitri A. Borgmann, Language on Vacation (1965), read backwards
growing-instead¶
en — this text does not satisfy the procedure.
I do not know
Source: constructed counterexample
schrumpfende-woerter¶
de — this text satisfies the procedure.
Wesens allen Herr der du O
Source: constructed example
waechst-stattdessen¶
de — this text does not satisfy the procedure.
O du der Herr
Source: constructed counterexample
mots-qui-retrecissent¶
fr — this text satisfies the procedure.
malade amour aime ami et a
Source: constructed example
ils-croissent-au-contraire¶
fr — this text does not satisfy the procedure.
a et ami aime amour malade
Source: constructed counterexample