118
What is the greatest sentence ever written in human history? (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
148 comments fedilink hide all child comments
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 6 points 2 months ago (17 children)

Not an essential word if you the listener have context! It's just that understanding this phrase is reliant on reader knowing context (i..e either that buffalo tend to buffalo buffalo OR just the theory/gimmick of the sentence itself.)

Also i believe OP made some effort to indicate via Capitalisation that one repeated buffalo is a proper noun. (Place name)

See: Buffalo(pl) buffalo(an) Buffalo(pl) buffalo(an) buffalo(vrb), buffalo(vrb) Buffalo(pl) buffalo(an)

pl: place, an: animal, vrb: verb.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 17 child comments
    •
  • [–] 0 points 2 months ago (16 children)

    Washington cats [missing] florida rats chase, annoy Vegas whores.

    There needs to be a which, that, who or something in that missing space for a proper sentence structure.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 16 child comments
    •
  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago (11 children)

    Here's some discussion of omitting "that" after a noun. I don't agree with Grammar Girl on what sounds awkward but she acknowledges that sentences can sound awkward but not be "wrong".

    The Packers haven’t drafted a quarterback despite rumors they were interested in doing so.

    Again, these sentences aren’t wrong, but they would sound a lot better with “that” inserted after the nouns “allegations” and “rumors.”

    https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/articles/when-to-delete-that/

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 11 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (10 children)

    Quaterback Love [that] Greenbay Packers drafted, played Detroit Lions.

    Some sentences can drop the relative pronouns and still make sense. This isn't one of them.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 10 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (9 children)

    "The quarterback the packers drafted" sounds fine to me

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 9 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago* (8 children)

    You've had to add "The" to make it make sense.

    "Quaterback Packers drafted" doesn't make sense.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 8 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago* (7 children)

    That's only because in the original sentence it's talking about things generally (eg "strawberries are red"), so it needs a plural or a mass noun, which is the case in the original sentence. You could say "Quarterbacks Packers draft" instead. Or think of a team name that can't use "the", like "goalies West Ham United signed".

    The point of the buffalo sentence is that it's technically grammatically correct, even if it sounds awkward. It's a really famous sentence among linguists, so do you really think all the language nerds who've seen it have missed that it's actually not grammatical and needs a relative pronoun?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 7 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago* (6 children)

    Quaterback Twins Greenbay Packers draft, play Detroit Lions.

    Nope. Still missing a word.

    If the sentence was technically grammatically correct then a direct substitution of all 8 words (without adding more) should make sense.

    I've already provided a counter example where it doesn't make sense. I'll drop my argument if you can find one that does.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 6 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (5 children)

    Quaterback Twins Greenbay Packers draft, play Detroit Lions.

    This sounds fine to me (although I wouldn't use the comma), I dunno what to tell you. Maybe it's different in your idiolect, but again, do you really think you're picking up on something that countless other linguists missed?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago* (4 children)

    Without an additional word between words 2 and 3, this is just a list. That's why it makes no sense.

    You only think it makes sense because you are adding in words subconsciously.

    Still waiting for an example that actually works.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (3 children)

    You only think it makes sense because you are adding in words subconsciously.

    do you really think you’re picking up on something that countless other linguists missed?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago* (2 children)

    Well, given that there isn't a similar sentence that makes sense (without inserting words). Yes.

    I mean, I appreciate that it's a bit of linguistic fun dreamt up by Dmitri Borgmann. But it's flawed. It needs an additional (non-buffalo) word to make proper sense.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    Maybe you should make an edit on the wiki page then so all the other people can understand it as well as you.

    Do any other famous sentences also need edits?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_while_John_had_had_had_had_had_had_had_had_had_had_had_a_better_effect_on_the_teacher

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    Nope, that makes perfect sense to me without which that or who.

    "Washington cats florida rats chase annoy vegas whores"

    1. The washington cats 2. Which florida rats chase 3. They annoy vegas whores

    It's a question of where you put pauses and intonation, when sounding it out in your head (or to another person). If you read it monotone it makes little sense. Unfortunately, knowing how its said requires deciphering it first. A lot of english novels have stuff like this, you'll probably find - you have to read sentences twice to understand what it means

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 0 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    I think you proved my point. You needed to add the word "which". A pause makes the first part sound like a list.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    There's probably no way for me to prove to you that it makes sense to me, unless you learn how to make sense of it yourself. I mentioned "which" and "they" because, as an english speaker knowing context about cats and rats, i can infer what connective could go there, but i don't need it because without the connectives we get a more colloquial informal way of saying it all.

    Is english your first language or is something else ?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •