Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo

Is this a sentence? Why are there so many buffaloes in one sentence?  Introduced by this Ted-Ed video, it is actually grammatically correct, but how?  There are three meanings of buffalo. The first is a proper noun, like bison. The second means to bully, and the third refers to the city, Buffalo, New York. To understand it, let’s add a couple of words. That would make it “Bison from Buffalo bully Bison from Buffalo who bully Bison from buffalo.” 

Now let's say you want these bullying buffalo across the ocean. You could use a Ship-shipping ship shipping shipping-ships. Now what does this pile of words mean? Well, imagine a colossal ship-shipping ship that is shipping shipping-ships.

However, a way to stop buffalo fighting on the ship would be welcome. A can-can dance contest seems like a good idea. Like always, some Can-can Can-can can can can can Can-can. Interesting, these piles of words are just getting bigger, aren’t they? Well, a can-can is a flamboyant dance. Can also means able to, and sometimes means to outperform. So here is what we may end up with: Can-can dances that can-can dances are able to outperform, can also outperform other can-can dances.

These sentences show just how complicated grammar really is. I think they are perfect examples of how languages are like puzzles, don’t you? Are you ready to construct your own grammar puzzle now? Is it true for all that that that that that that that refers to is not the same that that that that refers to? It is true for all that, that that "that" which that "that" refers to is not the same "that" which that "that" refers to.


Reference:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Most Devious Cheat At the Olympics

Image
          In the 1976 Montreal Olympics, a Russian athlete named Boris Onischenko, or dishonest chenko was going to compete in the modern day pentathlon. Pentathletes swim, run, shoot pistols, ride horses, and fence. Onischenko won the team gold in 1972 and the single silver twice.           This would likely be Onischenko’s last Olympics, as he was already 38 years old. Many assumed he would leave the Olympic games with yet another medal, as the Russian team was fourth with their strongest skills still to come. The second day was the fencing competition, with a round robin tournament spread around 46 matches in 12 hours. The aim was to win 70% of the matches, which would award a point bonus.           The Russians played the British early that day. Onischenko beat Danny Nightingale, Adrian Parker, and then Mike Proudfoot, who called an official to inspect the Russian’s fencing equipment. The officials found nothing wrong, and said this complaint was merely “early morning jitters”. Af
Read more

Su Bingtian

Image
  Su Bingtian is the first ever Asian sprinter to break the ten second barrier on the 100 metre dash. Despite being five inches shorter than an average sprinter, his record of 6.42 seconds in the 60 metre dash is the fastest time in Asia and places him in the top five world wide. He even broke the 10 second barrier on the 100 metre dash.           Bingtian was born on the 29th of August, 1989 in the Guangdong province of China. His early career went mostly unnoticed until he obtained three straight wins in the Asian Grand Prix series in May of 2009. In 2011, he set a new Chinese record of 6.56 seconds in the 60 metre dash, and soon won the 2011 Asian Athletics Championship with a personal best of 10.21 seconds in the 100 metre dash, establishing himself as the top sprinter in China. Bingtian leading the sprint at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics semi finals for the 100 meter dash. Source For Su, 2013 started off strong with two national records in the 60 metre dash. But soon his rival, Zhan
Read more