science

Lapalissade

Lapalissade is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lapalissade rather than just read about it. In short: A lapalissade is an obvious truth—i.e. a truism or tautology—which produces a comical effect. It is derived from the name Jacques de la Palice, and the word is used in several languages.

Key takeaways

Lapalissade belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lapalissade to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lapalissade from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A lapalissade is an obvious truth—i.e. a truism or tautology—which produces a comical effect. It is derived from the name Jacques de la Palice, and the word is used in several languages.

Origin La Palice's epitaph reads:

"Ci-gît le Seigneur de La Palice: s'il n'était pas mort, il ferait encore envie." ("Here lies the Seigneur de La Palice: If he weren't dead, he would still be envied.") These words were misread (accidentally or intentionally) as "...il ſerait [serait] encore en vie" ("...he would still be alive"), where the long s aids in the confusion. In the 16th century this misreading was incorporated into a popular satirical song, and in time many other variants developed, including "... que deux jours avant sa mort / il était encore en vie" ("... that two days before his death / he was still quite alive") and "... et quand il était tout nu, / il n'avait point de chemise" ("... and when he was stark naked / he didn't wear a shirt"). In the early 18th century, Bernard de la Monnoye collected over 50 of these humorous "La Palice" quatrains and published them as a burlesque "Song of La Palice". From that song came the French term lapalissade meaning an utterly obvious truth—i.e. a truism or tautology, and it was borrowed into several other languages. The French phrase "La Palice en aurait dit autant!" ("La Palice would have said as much!") is used to express that a statement is obvious.

Similar terms In Spanish culture, an analog is a folkloric character Pedro Grullo (Perogrullo) with his perogrulladas: "Verdad de Pedro Grullo, que a la mano cerrada, la llama puño" (The truth of Pedro Grullo, when his hand is closed, he calls it a fist). In English, Captain Obvious indicates, somewhat pejoratively, that a speaker has said a self-evident truth. Other kinds of trite expressions are "platitude" and "bromide".

Examples Most drownings occur in the water. Most wars occur during wartime. 60 minutes feels like an hour. If we are an hour early, then we are 1 hour early. Most people are born at a very young age. At the end of the day, it is night.

See also "In a Cottage in Fife", a Mother Goose nursery rhyme Pleonasm Captain Obvious for uses of the term in media

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lapalissade

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lapalissade claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lapalissade before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lapalissade ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lapalissade

In research: Lapalissade appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lapalissade in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lapalissade is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics French words and phrases, Humour, Rhetoric, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lapalissade outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lapalissade in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lapalissade means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lapalissade out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lapalissade in simple terms?

A lapalissade is an obvious truth—i.e. a truism or tautology—which produces a comical effect. It is derived from the name Jacques de la Palice, and the word is used in several languages.

Why does Lapalissade matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lapalissade?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lapalissade.