In linguistics, comparative illusions (CIs) or Escher sentences are certain comparative sentences which initially seem to be acceptable but upon closer reflection have no well-formed meaning. The typical example sentence used to typify this phenomenon is More people have been to Russia than I have.
c.f. Frank Sullivan's wolf sentences:
- This is the best salad I ever put in my whole mouth.
- It was a heck of a party, everyone in the room was there.
- I've got more money than I can afford.
As I consider them whole new vistas are opening up behind me*.
* My first attempt at one of my own.
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