2006-06-06 13:17:44 · 16 answers · asked by EL Cerebro 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
silence or the sound of a slap in the face
2006-06-06 13:20:39 · answer #1 · answered by amourgirl2 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Hi El Cerebro,
This is actually a very easy one: extend your hand, then clap your fingers back onto your palm, and that's the sound of one hand clapping!
But, I guess you really want a deeper answer than that. The real philosophical answer is that this is what we call a "bizarre" question - that is, the words don't really connect to each other. If I asked you "What is the sound of a comma drinking?" you'd just tell me to stop being such a nonsensical fool, but really your question is very similar. The difference is that your question sounds very similar to a non-bizarre question, like, "What is the sound of two hands clapping?" which has a very obvious answer.
The question is used in the knowledge that it is nonsensical but that it is close enough to a sensible question to make people think about it, so that while they walk that line between meaning and non-meaning they can appreciate how fragile real meaning is. Meaning, after all, is all that we truly have in the world, and it's always helpful to remember how easy it is to lose that meaning just by changing the words so slightly.
Hope this helped.
2006-06-12 11:56:22 · answer #2 · answered by Chris M 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It makes the same sound as a tree that falls in the woods with no one there to report on it--no sound.
2006-06-06 19:27:06 · answer #3 · answered by away team 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on what it hits, doesn't it? I vote for "clap!", although dictionaries claim the etymology is not imitative.
2006-06-10 19:27:46 · answer #4 · answered by todaywiserthanyesterday 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bikku's! All is burning! The hedge at the bottom of the garden
2006-06-13 06:56:41 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
it is the applause for a piece of work--poetry, song, story so astonishing, it leaves the audience in awed silence.
2006-06-06 13:27:31 · answer #6 · answered by wholenote4 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Slap on face.Hope you have heard it now.If not donot try to hear it
2006-06-12 18:34:09 · answer #7 · answered by leowin1948 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The same as hitting your head off a cloud. ;)
2006-06-08 00:21:46 · answer #8 · answered by sprite 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
clap!
2006-06-06 13:22:07 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
a good example of how grammar can let you down.
2006-06-13 01:34:47 · answer #10 · answered by Nessie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋