Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2
#70635 05/20/02 06:46 PM
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 200
A
enthusiast
OP Offline
enthusiast
A
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 200
"I thought that that was the answer."

Note the immediate repetition of a single word, in a perfectly good english sentence. What other examples can we come up with? Can we exceed just a repeating pair, and perhaps get a triple play? or even quadruple -- or better?

No fair to:
-- use battology; or
-- make a word into a proper name (e.g., "Major Major" from Catch-22); or
-- refer to a word as a word (I saw that "that" that that signpainter had misspelled.).


#70636 05/20/02 10:46 PM
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 688
A
addict
Offline
addict
A
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 688
"I thought that that was the answer."

Back to my school days, I learned that when a word is used like this in a sentence, the two occurrences should be separated by a comma as in:

"Did you know that, that was the way we were going?"



#70637 05/20/02 11:58 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
When there are lots of berries, eat what you can, can what you can't.


#70638 05/21/02 05:40 AM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 618
D
addict
Offline
addict
D
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 618
Two questions:

Why not "I thought that was the answer"?
Why the comma?

Some sites:
http://www.opundo.com/sayagain.htm
http://www.rightwords.co.nz/backnews.html
http://rec-puzzles.org/new/sol.pl/language/english/sentences/repeated.words

And my attempts:

Dr Bill regaled us with stories of how he canned the berries he had had for breakfast.
Tea made by latin dancers could be cha cha cha.
One who dances on tins might say "I can can can can".

Ta. Ta ta.


#70639 05/21/02 07:44 AM
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 148
A
member
Offline
member
A
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 148
I can't really add to the double or triple plays, but re: the grammar - personally, if I'm proofreading something I would get rid of the comma between the thats. Read it aloud - it makes no sense to pause there. Maybe it's a hangover from German where it's a grammatical necessity to have the comma after 'dass' [how does one do an s-tset??]. It's often fine just to have one 'that', too, but the second that places emphasis [ I think, anyhow]

Alexis


#70640 05/21/02 12:24 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460
P
addict
Offline
addict
P
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460
Here's an example I posted a couple of years ago -- does it fit within your guidelines?

If only she, who had had "had", had had "had had"; "had had" had had the teacher's approval.

Eleven at a blow!


#70641 05/21/02 12:40 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
"Eleven at a blow" Thats a fly remark. Fly, fly!!


#70642 05/21/02 01:11 PM
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
W
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
I thought that that "that" that that girl wrote--not the girl behind her--was superfluous.

That's only five, but fun trying.
Edit: I just read the rules and realized I broke one! ha! Sorry!

#70643 05/21/02 04:04 PM
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 200
A
enthusiast
OP Offline
enthusiast
A
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 200
PS: The "rules" are an attempt to fit within the logic of a newspaper column in which I read the puzzle. But it's fun to do it both ways: both with punctuation, and "pure".


Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 200
A
enthusiast
OP Offline
enthusiast
A
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 200
the can can dancers

Some gentlemen perfer to watch the can can from a seat near the stage, where (being below the elevated stage) they view the dancers at a distinctly upward angle. One refers to them as infracancaninophiles.


Page 1 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,912
Posts229,283
Members9,179
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV, Heather_Turey, Standy
9,179 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 302 guests, and 2 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,510
LukeJavan8 9,916
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5