Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

café wall illusion

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.52 in modern English

Syllables
cafe wal-l il-lu-sion
IPA
23
Scrabble Score
16
Letters
4
Syllables
11
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An optical illusion in which the parallel straight dividing lines between staggered rows with alternating dark and light bricks appear to be sloped rather than parallel.

Etymology

Described under its current name in 1973 by Richard Gregory, according to whom this effect was observed by a member of his laboratory, Steve Simpson, in the tiles of the wall of a café at the bottom of St Michael’s Hill, Bristol.

Inflected Forms

café wall illusions (plural) café-wall illusion (alternative)

Questions

What does café wall illusion mean?
An optical illusion in which the parallel straight dividing lines between staggered rows with alternating dark and light bricks appear to be sloped rather than parallel.
Where does café wall illusion come from?
Described under its current name in 1973 by Richard Gregory, according to whom this effect was observed by a member of his laboratory, Steve Simpson, in the tiles of the wall of a café at the bottom of St Michael’s Hill, Bristol.

How to pronounce café wall illusion

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