it's meaningful to say, at some level of abstraction, that address 2 contains 42 indirectly.

No. Given 

$bar = 42;
$foo = \$bar;

[download]

one might say "foo is 42" in some contexts. But if you remove the abstraction and start talking of addresses, the statement becomes false. There isn't a 42 at address 2.

3 is the ________ of $2

You filled in too many words. "3 is referenced by $2" or "$2 references 3".

Address (of $3)

Update: Misread.

In reply to Re: What's in a Reference? by ikegami
in thread What's in a Reference? by Xiong

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