"This page intentionally blank" ... but it isn't!

Question

We are all familiar with user manuals or documents with pages printed with "intentionally blank" ... but with those words on them, they are no longer blank!

I'm pretty sure I saw a user manual once with pages like this:

We were going to say this page is intentionally blank, but once we did, we realized it isn't blank any more.

Would there be a better way of expressing this concept? Such as "intentionally conveys no useful information"? (Except, now it does - it conveys that it has no useful information)

Konrad Gajewski · Accepted Answer

My proposition: "The rest of this page is intentionally left blank."

Avon · Answer

The phrase would be put right if it excluded itself from the message.

Therefore, I suggest:

This page intentionally left otherwise blank

Sankarane · Answer

"Blank" is the word causing the conflict.

Why not, "This page is not intended for use"?

Note: The "intended use" here is to answer questions or provide information, say for example, about one's health (in a multiple-page insurance application). Just this page is not for use, while its flip side carries questions. If it's left blank, one may write notes on it. So, to prevent such "unauthorized" notes, which might carry legal implications, the companies print such a warning.

Peter · Answer

How about on the previous page of the one to be left 'BLANK', write, The following page has been intentionally left blank.

Mateen Ulhaq · Answer

To take a page out of Douglas Adam's book:

This page is not entirely unlike a blank page.

"This page intentionally blank" ... but it isn't!

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