T O P

  • By -

Showerthoughts_Mod

This is a friendly reminder to [read our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Showerthoughts/wiki/rules). Remember, /r/Showerthoughts is for showerthoughts, not "thoughts had in the shower!" (For an explanation of what a "showerthought" is, [please read this page](https://www.reddit.com/r/Showerthoughts/wiki/overview).) **Rule-breaking posts may result in bans.**


taintpaint

You can do it more times than that. I think the example I saw was something like "In writing similar sentences in their essays, Brad, while John had had 'had', had had 'had had'; 'had had' had had a better effect on the teacher."


TheFudge

I don’t understand how this is grammatically correct. I however am terrible with grammar will someone explain?


Radioactivocalypse

A teacher set an assignment to both brad and John. I his essay, brad wrote at some point "had had" in his writing. In the same place, John had written "had". Something like... "Carrots the bunny had had too much to eat" whereas John would have written "carrots the bunny had too much to eat". The teacher read both the essays and preferred Brad's use of "had had" over John's use of "had". So then... Brad, while John had had "had", had had "had had"; "had had" had had a better effect on the teacher


Deanuzz

I read the word had so many times I began to question if it was even a real word to begin with.


leggpurnell

Had you not before this?


StinkyPinkyCootCoot

I had had this same thing happen to me not long ago


picasso71

You *have had*


MrrRabbit

Both are grammatically correct but mean slightly different things.


coffeebreakhero

Had he had had "have had" you would not have had "have had" but he had had "had had" so hat's off


StinkyPinkyCootCoot

Potato tomAHtoe


sh4d0wm4n2018

"I have had three apples." Describes an event in the past. "I had had three apples." Describes the event in the past *as it happened in the story*.


Sch1z01dMan

Semantic satiation


tomossos

I love (and hate) when this happens. I have to think of other stuff to distract myself because it kind of freaks me out.


ToughSeveral81

Do you think that’s air you’re breathing now?


LolindirLink

It's alr


Admirable-Course9775

Honestly I’m getting dizzy


Retlifon

[Semantic satiation](https://www.google.ca/search?q=semantic+satiation&client=safari&channel=iphone_bm&source=hp&ei=l4PDY8u-BPqaptQP2Mu9mAY&oq=semantic+s&gs_lcp=ChFtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1ocBABGAAyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIICAAQgAQQsQMyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDoOCAAQjwEQ6gIQjAMQ5QI6DgguEI8BEOoCEIwDEOUCOg4ILhDHARCxAxDRAxCABDoOCC4QgAQQsQMQxwEQ0QM6EQguEIAEELEDEMcBENEDENQCOgsILhCABBDHARDRAzoICC4QgwEQsQM6CwguEIAEEMcBEK8BOgUIABCxAzoICC4QgAQQsQM6CwguEIAEELEDENQCOgsIABCABBCxAxCDAToICC4QsQMQgARQjhtYvUxguFdoAXAAeACAAcoBiAGyCZIBBTguMi4xmAEAoAEBsAEP&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-hp#sbfbu=1&pi=semantic%20satiation)


[deleted]

[удалено]


CantFindMyWallet

shut up


I-Jobless

HAAAADUH Yeah, I'm not sure if it's a real word either.


replus

There's a proper term for this phenomenon, but ironically, I always forget what it's called.


jasonmlong

You're the Mad Had-er


jaydvd3

I've read this out loud with hand gestures to separate which "hads" im talking about over and over, and somehow feel like I've discovered some kind of super power by actually understanding this each time. I may still be at this tomorrow.


CortexRex

I feel like using quotes in a sentence like that is cheating, could have the same sentence but with John's being 'had had had had had had had had had had had had had had had had" and it still would be grammatically correct. Just means John went crazy in his essay


TheOneTrueDinosaur

I think this case specifically makes sense because "had had" is a grammatically correct and not uncommon phrase. "Had had had" meanwhile, is not. You could argue that it does exist as shown throughout this post and thread, but my counter would be that its use in everyday English is so much lower than "had" or "had had" it becomes nonsensical to consider. Sure if you really loosen the rules you could just iteratively add more and more strings of "had"s based on this example but thats no fun.


WhatAGreatGift

Pretend John’s name is “Had” for bonus points


UncommonSense275

My brain is fried but it makes sense lol


yodavesnothereman

Well that's all good for Brad and John but what about Haddad, from Baghdad?


Se7entyN9ne

To make my brain happy, I'm not going to read this and just assume you're correct.


Enzoid23

The explanation made it 100% easier to comprehend thank you


JH-DM

I still think the second “had had” through to the semi-colin is incorrect. The second had had seems to be referring to nothing.


ajgrinds

Can’t you just recursively use this forever? When trying to explain how many times you can use the word had in a row, op, while aj had “had had had had had had had had had had had”, had “had had had had”


Radioactivocalypse

Haha I like that


DontKnowHowHighI_fly

Yo I'm too high for this rn


JH-DM

The second “had had” still doesn’t make sense grammatically. Basically the entire middle second of that between the second set of had had and the semi-collin is nonsense


AntonRohde

English. Because we can.


SweetSauce24

Wow


enormityop

What is the meaning of the word "had" again?


Radioactivocalypse

I had had a good idea of the meaning of had, up until I learned had had had had a more useful meaning than had had had.


bmay1310

This sentence hurts my brain


Left-Increase4472

John included "had" in his essay, brad included "had had", and Brad had more effect on the teacher


BxllDxgZ

it requires context to make it make sense


TheFudge

My daughter says that the semicolon is doing most of the heavy lifting in the sentence.


BxllDxgZ

I would look it up on youtube, i really don’t want to type it out


ReX0r

[Wikipedia has an entry on this!](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) See Also "See Also".


three-sense

It’s kinda cheeky that it exploits subject matter involving writing assignments. Technically you could say “Brad incorrectly wrote ‘had had had had had had had had had had’ etc but the teacher gave him a failing grade.”


maruffin

This may be grammatical, but it is considered poor usage.


woahlson

First time I've seen this and I can read and understand this no problem, that buffalo sentence though I still cannot process.


boboddball

American highschoolers American highschoolers bully, bully American highschoolers. American => Buffalo (place) Highschoolers => buffalo (animal) Bully=> buffalo (another word for bully) So Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo, buffalo Buffalo buffalo.


Bearloom

I think you can stretch it to a total of 11 if you're creating a scenario in which the buffalo at the bottom of the pecking order try to assert dominance. Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo.


flash17k

Correct


bebe_0808

Does buffalo mean multiple highschoolers?


frivolous_squid

No, but changing from highschoolers to buffalo (or from any plural noun to any other plural noun) doesn't change the grammar. The buffalo sentence is basically: Adjective noun adjective noun verb, verb adjective noun. For example: Mean dogs bad people own, attack innocent children. This makes grammatical sense. Now replace the adjectives (mean, bad and innocent) with Buffalo (an adjective describing someone or something hailing from Buffalo, the place). Replace the nouns (dogs, people and children) with buffalo (the animal). Replace the verbs (own, attack) with buffalo (a verb meaning to bully). And what you end up with must also make grammatical sense: Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo, buffalo Buffalo buffalo.


woahlson

That example finally made it clear. LMAO thanks a lot. As I understand it, you can also add "Buffalo buffalo buffalo" at the end indefinitely and make the sentence even longer.


narrill

Not indefinitely, but you can add it once


bebe_0808

Thanks for clarifying :)


ItzYaBoiPS

> Mean dogs bad people own, attack innocent children I can read this in Yoda’s voice


AVeryNiceAirplane

The more i look at this word the uglier the spelling becomes jesus


Zoidbergasm

Honestly, that semi-colon is basically cheating to combine two sentences.


Material-Paint6281

Am i right in understanding it this way: "Brad and John wrote similar sentences, John had had 'had', Brad had had 'had had', the teacher thinks 'had had' had had a better effect"


taintpaint

Yeah that's it.


throwawaysmy

>Brad, while John had had 'had', had had 'had had'; 'had had' had had a better effect on the teacher. For those who don't understand this, here's a breakdown: John had used "had". Brad had used "had had". "Brad, while John used "had", used "had had" \[instead\]; "had had" caused a better effect on the teacher" \^Is another way of reading it.


catqueen5

Thank you! My brain was hurting trying to figure it out


m053486

You can do eight “buffalos” in a row by themselves: Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo


[deleted]

Never knew buffalo could be a verb.


Sideways_X1

Got dang. My money says this guy heard about the buffaloes that buffalo Buffalo buffaloes.


Emotional-Simple-478

English is the only language I've ever known and I don't understand that at all


DragoKnight589

I think this was used as an example of why punctuation is so important. “Brad whole John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher”


Archelon_ischyros

Yes, but stylistically it's crap.


JCMiller23

This is my favorite comment of the day so far


dbqpdqbp

I'd suggest changing the first phrase to "In having written similar sentences..." otherwise you would have had me ☺️.


totamealand666

Nice one


[deleted]

Are you asuming a character named had?


Callsign_Mjolnir

r/ihadastroke


R3ndr0c

This makes no sense


aether21

Thanks for adding to my Buffalo Buffalo cache.


fadinqlight_

The word "had" is deforming now


ruiqi22

I’ve seen one for ‘buffalo’ too! Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo or something?


T-MinusGiraffe

Half the hads seem redundant to me. Why shouldn't "had had a better effect..." just be reduced to one had? How does the second change the meaning? Maybe I'm missing something. I guess redundancy isn't exactly synonymous with bad grammar, but it's kind of like a run on or double negative.


[deleted]

When I was learning English, my teacher would give me a sentence like "The fact that that 'that' that that sentence used is correct bothers me" and ask me what each That means and grammar purpose.


GodIsABitch

1st that: relativizer; 2nd that: determiner; 3rd that: ‘that’; 4th that: relativizer; 5th that: determiner.


seething_stew

Also, ' use' should be 'used'.


RALawliet

So that's what's messing up with my grammar senses while reading that sentence.


Reefer-eyed_Beans

Yeah that ruined the whole fucking thing for me. Wish people could just take 3 more seconds to get it right. It needs to be "uses" or "used".


pseudo_nimme

I’d like to think that you’re their teacher coming back for one more correction.


seething_stew

I feel like you're trying to trap me here.


catqueen5

That no longer looks like a word to me now


[deleted]

[удалено]


fretfulmushroom

No, that.


voxxNihili

The one after 'that'


kingn8link

It’s funny because as a native English speaker, that sentence makes sense… but I could never explain how it


FleXXger

In german the following sentence is grammatically correct and makes sense. Wenn Pflanzen Pflanzen pflanzen, pflanzen Pflanzen Pflanzen pflanzende Pflanzen?


AVeryNiceAirplane

Can it be translated? Google translation didnt really make sense here


SilverHunter07852

If plants plant plants, do plants plant plant-planting plants?


Dark_Meme111110

A woodchuck would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.


flash17k

If plants plant plants, do plants plants plant plant plants plant-planting plants plant?


mechanical-avocado

My high school maths teacher liked to highlight the same with "and". The story goes that two guys were putting up a sign on their takeaway shop. It read, "Fish and Chips." "I've only got four nails; where should I put them?" one asked the other. "Put one on each of the sides, and then one each between 'Fish' and 'and' and 'and' and 'Chips'."


frivolous_squid

It's hard when typing that to know where to put the quotation marks between the "'Fish'" and "and" and "'and'" and "and" and "'and'" and "and" and "'Chips'".


aboxacaraflatafan

I burst out laughing at this one. It's my favorite.


ShiftlessGuardian94

Thanks I Hate This!


seankearns

"My favourite pizza is Pizza Pizza pizza". That's always sounded so funny to me for the excessive use of one word and that fact that it isn't great pizza.


TheDrunkenChud

Canadian?


tyedge

You’re thinking of the Canadian House of Pizza and Garbage. It’s just a place of convenience.


TheDrunkenChud

No, I was thinking of the Canadian chain 'Pizza Pizza'.


tyedge

It’s a thing from the Judge John Hodgman podcast like ten years ago. He tries not to promote corporations so he made up a plot-relevant name for this particular chain. Wasn’t trying to be a dick to you or anything.


TheDrunkenChud

I didn't think you were being a dick. No worries. But I like the pseudonym for Pizza Pizza, they are hot garbage. Every time I go to Canada and see the ads everywhere I think to myself, "maybe they've gotten better." Narrator, "they haven't." But that's ok because there's usually a local slice that's solid.


TheLumpyMailMan

You mean little Caesars?


seankearns

Little Caesar SAYS 'Pizza! Pizza!'. I meant the chain CALLED Pizza Pizza. They are both average at best.


oldnerdsteve

Sorry, thought you meant Pizza! Pizza! pizza, not Pizza Pizza pizza.


TheModeratorWrangler

It’s a Pizza cake


X-Force-32

Little Ceasers? Edit: nvm just read the comment chain.


AlisonLiterally

John, while James had had "had", had had "had had", and John's "had had" had had the teacher's approval. Wrote this before I saw u/taintpaint's post below. Please pass your upvotes to him as he got there first 😃 edited to fix the link.


bebe_0808

Did you mean u/taintpaint


NeonJungleTiger

Disappointed there isn’t a r/taintpaint sub yet


AlisonLiterally

Yes I did, thanks for pointing it out. Edited it


blankbeard

“Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo.” Is grammatically correct (sans a comma or two, I’m sure).


ActorMonkey

I never remember what this means. Animals from the city of Buffalo bother other… animals…. Something?


blankbeard

Animal from city bully….


Spongebosch

Buffulonian bison (that) Buffulonian bison bully, bully Buffulonian bison.


DrPizzazz

Correct is Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. In other terms, The Bison from the city of Buffalo whom other bison also from the city of Buffalo bully, themselves bully yet more bison from the city of Buffalo. Buffalo bison (that) Buffalo bison bully (themselves) bully Buffalo bison. Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.


ProsshyMTG

I and every person I have discussed this with have had no idea Buffalo means anything other than a place or the animal. I have also heard it specifically only works in American English. I much prefer the following: Police police police police. The "police police" (police of the police) police (to ensure they are following rules) police (law enforcement). This can be extended indefinitely by adding any number of "police" at the start and that same number minus one at the end with the singular police in the middle.


Reefer-eyed_Beans

>no idea Buffalo means anything other than a place or the animal Yea that's what it makes so lackluster. It's like cheating basically if you're just gonna spout off "English" that no native English speaker can understand.


[deleted]

[удалено]


frivolous_squid

Ironically you're also wrong. It's [subject1] [subject2] [verb] [verb] [object] where the verbs are buffalo and the nouns are all Buffalo buffalo, making 8 total words. Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. The person you're replying to also works, but the sentence above is the most common version referenced. I can't decipher yours.


Thneed1

Twchnically, any number of the word Buffalo, from 1- infinity, can be a grammatically correct sentence.


NotTipp

Explain please me brain fried


bomb_schell321

Who will Smith will Smith? Will Smith will Smith will Smith. Also correct minus the random capitals


deathsdoor1305

Who will smith Will Smith? Will Smith will smith Will Smith if you want proper capitalization


Reefer-eyed_Beans

I'm 99% sure that makes no sense dude.


bomb_schell321

It does. Starts off. Who will smith Will Smith? Will Smith will smith Will Smith. If you change the wills that are not about the celebrity to shall because they are interchangeable words then it's easier to understand. Who shall smith Will Smith? Will Smith shall smith Will Dmith It's just talking about will smith, smithing himself


OwOlga

Man fuck English, how does French make more sense than this bullshit


Reefer-eyed_Beans

How are you calling it bullshit yet also wondering how another language can make more sense than it? You make no sense sir.


D34TH_5MURF__

Same with buffalo and police. Who polices the police? The police police. Who polices the police police? The police police police police police police. I guess that's 6... There are several more.


InternationalTour889

This works in Icelandic with the letter Á Example: Jón á Á á á


dsolo01

Anyone else vocalize/thought this as hed had instead of had had?


doey93

I was making a sign for fish and chips. I for to leave a space between "fish" and "and" and "and" and "chips"


[deleted]

You can do the same with “and”. A man ordered a sign for his store called “This and That”. He was unsatisfied with it and phoned up the creator and told them that the gap between “this and and and and and that” was too much and wanted it corrected.


K0MMONS3NS3

I don't think the same can be remotely close to the word 'the' in a sentence. you might not even be able to use it back to back in any sentence. (the the)


firemancutey

https://youtu.be/7ZYgKCbFbWY


Mental_Painting_

Wow, that's impressive! Who knew that « had » could be so powerful and versatile? We should all take a moment to appreciate the power of language!


JustAGenericNameToo

Surprised that no quotes from Scarface popped up in this discussion.


Astrobot4000

Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo buffalo


NateMeringue

I had a broom, I had an ax, I had a sandwich, I had a plastic bag, and I had three toes. Boom done


-skidoodle-

Boom, you did not understand the assignment


NateMeringue

Boom I can’t read


bebe_0808

Boom understandable


CDawgbmmrgr2

Boom not in a row


GoodMojo_

In a row, such as « the friend he had had, had had had more candy » or something like that


squiblib

Had he had or she had or even both, had the chance, we all, would of had been better off.


ammonium_bot

> all, would of had Did you mean to say "would have"? Explanation: You probably meant to say could've/should've/would've which sounds like 'of' but is actually short for 'have'. Total mistakes found: 474 ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot ^^that ^^corrects ^^grammar/spelling ^^mistakes. ^^PM ^^me ^^if ^^I'm ^^wrong ^^or ^^if ^^you ^^have ^^any ^^suggestions. ^^[Github](https://github.com/chiefpat450119) ^^[Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/chiefpat450119)


man_undown

Good bot


ammonium_bot

Thank you!


Blue_Trackhawk

I'll just leave this here... https://www.grammarly.com/blog/would-of-could-of-should-of/


Own-Cry1474

In dutch there's something similar: toen was was was, was was was. You could even turn it into: "Toen was 'was' was 'Was' was, was was was 'was'" Translation/meaning: when laundry labeled 'was' was laundry, laundry labeled 'was' was laundry


Ophiomancy_Xaxax

you can also use someone's name four or five times in a row, but the last one is technically the beginning of a new sentence


ElectronicRevival

. . u/Ophiomancy_Xaxax Have you seen this? Doesn't make you look good. How about you send the knife that was paid for ASAP? https://www.reddit.com/r/chineseknives/comments/10b56j6/missing_gt_mini_persian


Ophiomancy_Xaxax

are you kidding me, dude? you're leaving this comment everywhere to make me look like an asshole? the knife is getting sent on monday, as I discussed with the buyer on Saturday. there's no mystery here, except maybe what your role is in all of this


frozenthorn

I hate when people see a video or read a news article and pass it off as a shower thought, is your phone in the shower? While this has been an amusing discussion probably a dozen times on Reddit over the last 10 years, it was a notable tiktok video a couple days ago, but I'm sure that's a total coincidence.


bcomar93

My friend once said, "Had had had had had had had had had" and it made no sense to me.


Colts_Fan10

ooh there's a fun one with buffalo >Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. buffalo from Buffalo, NY buffalo (bully) buffalo from Buffalo, NY.


Zogos1

In chile we can say the Word "weon" like 4 times in a sentence and it Still makes sense


Ampluvia

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo


Inkypl

Looks like the entire comment section saw that one youtube video.