• @disguy_ovahea
    link
    177 months ago

    Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

    “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo” is a grammatically correct sentence in English that is often presented as an example of how homonyms and homophones can be used to create complicated linguistic constructs through lexical ambiguity. It has been discussed in literature in various forms since 1967, when it appeared in Dmitri Borgmann’s Beyond Language: Adventures in Word and Thought.

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

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      47 months ago

      In German, we have “Wenn Fliegen hinter Fliegen fliegen, fliegen Fliegen Fliegen nach”. Notice that all nouns are capitalized in German.

        • @Klear
          link
          37 months ago

          Yup. I know a bit of German, but that doesn’t help with the buffalos at all.

      • @disguy_ovahea
        link
        12
        edit-2
        7 months ago

        It is grammatically correct, just semantically ambiguous. Buffalo is a proper noun, a noun, and a verb.

        A semantically equivalent form preserving the original word order is: “Buffalonian bison that other Buffalonian bison bully also bully Buffalonian bison.”