---
title: 'How Many Letters Are In The Answer?'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=dG7pemDgwmc'
video_id: 'dG7pemDgwmc'
date: 2026-08-27
duration_sec: 129
channel: 'Vsauce'
---

# How Many Letters Are In The Answer?

> Source: [How Many Letters Are In The Answer?](https://youtube.com/watch?v=dG7pemDgwmc)

## Summary

This video explores the concept of 'autoposigrams'—expressions that describe their own letter count—and distinguishes them from related linguistic phenomena like autological words, heterological words, and 'posical question beggars.' The creator presents examples of definite and indefinite autoposigrams, discusses expressions that command rather than describe, and introduces the 'Trojan gram,' a word that contains one of its enemies.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to Autoposigrams** [00:01] — The video introduces expressions that count themselves, calling them 'autoposical' or 'autoposigrams.' Examples include 'five and 25 added together' (30 letters) and 'more than 10' (exactly 10 letters).
- **Autoposigrams vs. Autological Words** [00:16] — Autoposigrams are different from autological words (words that describe themselves as words, like 'unhyphenated' or 'writable'). Autoposigrams describe their own letter count, not their meaning as words.
- **Definite vs. Indefinite Autoposigrams** [00:46] — A definite autoposigram gives an exact letter count (e.g., 'eight more than nine' = 17 letters). An indefinite autoposigram describes the count without a specific number (e.g., 'some' contains some letters).
- **Examples and Non-Examples** [01:13] — Examples of autoposigrams include '2 cubed' and 'the eighth prime number plus nine.' Expressions like 'multiply three by three by three' are commands to find a number, not descriptions, making them 'posical question beggars.'
- **Trojan Grams** [01:40] — A 'Trojan gram' is a word that contains not its own answer or opposite, but one of its enemies. The video warns against counting the letters in 'superstitious' if you are superstitious.

### Conclusion

The video presents a playful yet systematic taxonomy of self-referential expressions, highlighting the difference between describing and commanding, and ends with a cautionary note about 'Trojan grams.'

## Transcript

that's 12. [music] It's also not five, because that's four. But it is four. It's also five and 25 added together. It's more than 10 and exactly 10, because the answer can be anything so long as its meaning is the
written with. I call expressions like these autoposical, because [music] they count themselves. Autoposigrams are different than autological words, words that [music] describe themselves as words. For example, 17-lettered is
[music] 17-lettered. Unhyphenated is unhyphenated and writable is writable. Autoposigrams are also different than heterological words, words that do not describe themselves. Plural is not plural. Misspelled is not misspelled.
And monosyllabic is not. Autoposigrams do not describe themselves as words, they describe their own letter count. A definite autoposigram tells you exactly how many letters it contains. [music] Eight more than nine means 17 and is
spelled with 17 letters. An indefinite autoposigram describes how many letters it contains without giving you a specific number. Some contains some letters. More than 10 contains more than 10. In my research, I found that the
plethora of expressions that point to their own letter counts and some of them are, in my opinion, truly autoposical. 2 cubed, the eighth prime number plus nine, words in the preamble [music] of the USA Constitution minus five, but
some of them, like multiply three by three by three or raise five to the second power, are something else. They don't describe a number, instead they are a command to find a number, which happens to be their own letter count. So
they aren't truly autoposical, instead they're posical question beggars, containing their own answers within themselves. But even more sinister is the Trojan gram, a word that contains not its own answer, not even its own
opposite, but one of its enemies. If you are superstitious, do not count how many are superstitious, do not count how many letters are in the word superstitious.