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Potoooooooo said:
Buffalo_buffalo_WikiWorld.png
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The English language has the largest vocabulary of any human language, and yet absurdities like this are possible.
 
George S said:
James Brown said:
I still can't parse it. Which 'buffalo' means 'bison' and which means 'bully'?

Eight instances of 'buffalo': 1) Buffalo (city) 2) bison 3) Buffalo (city) 4) ?? 5) ?? 6) ?? 7) Buffalo (city) 8) bison.
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There are a kind of buffalo living in Buffalo, they are called "Buffalo buffalo." (Buffalo bison, always a 2-word phrase) The verb "to buffalo" appears also.

Buffalo buffalo [which] Buffalo buffalo buffalo [in turn] buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
adj........n.................. adj......n.........v.......................v......adj.....n

Bison bison bully bully bison. (Buffalo bison in each case.)

People people bully bully people. (Same syntax.)
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That makes better sense. I think the sentence is unclear without your added [which], but I suppose it's technically correct. If I change the wording:

Newark Democrats Atlanta Republicans harass insult Dallas Libertarians.

Without a judicious [which] or a couple of commas, that sentence is outright unclear and would earn me a demerit in Ms. Thompson's English class.
 
dystopian said:
Underseer said:
The English language has the largest vocabulary of any human language,
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Nitpick, but this isn't actually true.
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I suspect it is an illusion of polite translation.

Tourist1, upon stubbing his toe: Fuck!
Host: What did he say?
Tourist2: He said that he wished he paid more attention to where he was walking while distracted by your beautiful city.
Host: In one word? That's impressive.

Tourist1, upon doing the conversion to find out how much he just spent on dinner: Fuck!
Waiter: What did he say?
Tourist2: He said that he should have refreshed himself about the exchange rate before ordering.

Tourist1, upon seeing the Eiffel Tower: Fuck!
Host: What did he say?
Tourist2: He said that he is impressed by this engineering marvel, especially considering when it was built.

Tourist1, upon seeing the barmaid: Fuck!
Barmaid: What did he say?
Tourist2: He said that he wishes to compose an ode to your beauty, but he lacks the skills to match the divine nature revealed by your perfect features.
Barmaid: No shit?
 
It would seem that English, with reportedly the world's largest vocabulary, is devolving into a mere handful of four-letter words.

I've been told that this is a good thing.
 
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