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Old 12-30-2012, 06:34 AM   #9 (permalink)
Tannhauser
Tannhauser
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How about:

Quote:
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
This is both grammatically correct and has meaning.

We have:

1. Buffalo, as in 'City of Buffalo, New York state'
2. buffalo, as in large herbivore aka bison, plural
3. buffalo, meaning to bully or intimidate.

So:

A [Buffalo buffalo] B [Buffalo buffalo buffalo] C [buffalo Buffalo buffalo]

A: Bison that are from the city of Buffalo...
B: ...which are bullied by other bison from the city of Buffalo...
C: ...in turn bully other bison from the city of Buffalo.

It took me ages to understand this, because in normal speech you would include a link between A and B, like this:


Quote:
Buffalo buffalo which Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
...but actually there's no grammatical need for a 'which' or 'that' in that place.

My explanation uses the wikipedia entry, full version here: Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's just a pity that the opportunity to legitimately use this sentence in conversation is never, ever going to arise.
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