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Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

A Way with Words, a radio show and podcast about language and linguistics.

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same word 5 times in a row
Guest
1
2010/04/16 - 2:12pm

I can't remember what the word or sentence was awhile back. The puzzle was to use the same word in a grammatically correct sentence, and to use it 5 times consecutively. Help, help, help, help, help!

Ron Draney
721 Posts
(Offline)
2
2010/04/16 - 2:20pm

The sentence in question was probably:

I said that, "that 'that' that that man wrote should have been underlined."

An explanation can be found at http://www.increasebrainpower.com/that-riddle.html.

Once you've managed to wrap your head around that train-wreck of a sentence, see what you can do with:

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo.

It is grammatical, and it doesn't require any other punctuation.

Guest
3
2010/04/16 - 2:35pm

And, in honor of all of us who love to use the pluperfect at every opportunity, it could also have been "had" for a seven-fold repeat.

When John and Mary compared test results, John, where Mary had "had had," had "had": "had had" received a better grade from the instructor.

I am assuming that expletives are excluded. In Four Weddings and a Funeral, for example, in the church narthex … .

Christopher Murray
Ireland
30 Posts
(Offline)
4
2010/04/17 - 1:51am

The landlord of the Rose and Crown (a tavern), complained to his sign writer:

"You haven't left enough space between 'Rose' and 'and' and 'and' and 'Crown'."

Guest
5
2010/04/19 - 8:21pm

Ron Draney said:

The sentence in question was probably:

I said that, "that 'that' that that man wrote should have been underlined."

An explanation can be found at http://www.increasebrainpower.com/that-riddle.html.

Once you've managed to wrap your head around that train-wreck of a sentence, see what you can do with:

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo.

It is grammatical, and it doesn't require any other punctuation.


Guest
6
2010/05/12 - 2:07pm

I'm dying to see an explanation for the Buffalo buffalo one.

Guest
7
2010/05/12 - 3:48pm

In this case, Wikipedia can serve as an acceptable reference:

!!! SPOILER ALERT !!!
Bullafo^8
!!! SPOILER ALERT !!!

Guest
8
2010/05/14 - 1:17pm

Thanks Glenn! I read Steven Pinker's book a number of years ago, but don't remember that one.

Guest
9
2010/06/26 - 1:39am

The following sentence has ten hads in it. Can you puncutate it correctly? John where Mary had had had had had had had had had had been correct.

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