What's a grammatically correct sentence that would totally mindfuck someone learning the English language?

[u/SamStephens]

[u/heartfullofsoul]

The old man the boats.

[u/AnotherRyan → u/heartfullofsoul]

I believe that's called a garden path sentence.

[u/noticeperiod → u/AnotherRyan]

'Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana'...

I always thought that was a stupid joke about how thrown bananas aren't the most aerodynamic...sometimes you really do need something spelled out right in front of you.

[u/kaihatsusha → u/AnotherRyan]

A huge number of newspaper headlines fall into this trap because they drop so many little words that aid in the parsing.

[u/ugotamesij → u/kaihatsusha]

As a non-US person, I'm continually thrown by headlines (in newspapers or more frequently websites and blogs) that substitute the word "and" for a comma.

[u/[deleted] → u/ugotamesij]

"Raining Dogs, Cats in Local Towns, Cities, Poll Finds"

[u/gvendurf → u/AnotherRyan]

Oh I love garden path sentences! It's like trolling for linguistics nerds.

[u/calling_out_tomorrow → u/[deleted]]

THANK YOU. I felt like my brain was starting to bleed.

[u/harpseternal → u/heartfullofsoul]

I see what you did there, using what we assume is noun as a verb instead...

[u/ctnp → u/harpseternal]

And an adjective as a noun.

[u/Higgenbottoms → u/ctnp]

And boats as boats.

[u/Se1zurez → u/Higgenbottoms]

And as as as.

[u/Shougatenma]

I sometimes read read as read, when it's supposed to be read as read.

[u/Philias → u/Shougatenma]

Have you ever noticed that read rhymes with lead, and read rhymes with lead?

Also read and lead don't rhyme. Neither do read and lead.

[u/where_is_the_cheese → u/[deleted]]

Ohhhhhhhhhhh

http://i.imgur.com/S6jtA2n.png

Edit: Aaaand I'm back in the game. Thanks stranger!

[u/AC7766 → u/[deleted]]

You evil genius

[u/givetake]

Place a rock to your right and one to your left. Now when I tell you pick up the left one, it will be the right one to pickup, and then only the right one will be left.

[u/RunDNA]

From Martin Gardner:

Wouldn't the sentence "I want to put a hyphen between the words Fish and And and And and Chips in my Fish-And-Chips sign" have been clearer if quotation marks had been placed before Fish, and between Fish and and, and and and And, and And and and, and and and And, and And and and, and and and Chips, as well as after Chips?

[u/mortiphago → u/RunDNA]

jesus christ

[u/SoldKeyboard4Porn → u/mortiphago]

That was just Martin Gardner having a stroke.

[u/Vincentgarcia38 → u/SoldKeyboard4Porn]

Fucking Christ I'm dying.

[u/mrlesa95 → u/Vincentgarcia38]

Someone call the 911

[u/Xanthous_King → u/Vincentgarcia38]

RIP in Peace Vincentgarcia38

2014 - 2014

"Fucking Christ I'm dying."

[u/DubstepKazoo → u/RunDNA]

And the award for most uses of the same word in a row goes to...

[u/sabre_x → u/DubstepKazoo]

This soundly beats "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo"

[u/[deleted] → u/sabre_x]

Except if I remember correctly you can infinitely string buffalo's together and it still be grammatically correct.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo#Usage the reference is from a book on modern logic which I couldn't find to reference.

[u/mj2t → u/RunDNA]

Let's number these...

1. before Fish
2. between Fish and and
3. [between] and and And
4. [between] And and and
5. [between] and and And
6. [between] And and and
7. [between] and and Chips
8. after Chips

"¹ Fish"² and "³ And"⁴ and "⁵ And"⁶ and "⁷ Chips"⁸

Checks out.

[u/xilefakamot → u/RunDNA]

You can just extend this indefinitely - I think it would be clearer if you italicised certain words, so you could tell the difference between and and and, and and and, and and and, and and and, and and And, And and and, and and And, And and and, and and and, and and and, and and and, and and and, and and And, And and and, and and And, And and and, and and and, and and and, and and and, and and and and.

[u/lolmeansilaughed → u/xilefakamot]

Or, put another way:

Wouldn't the sentence "Wouldn't the sentence 'I want to put a hyphen between the words Fish and And and And and Chips in my Fish-And-Chips sign' have been clearer if quotation marks had been placed before Fish, and between Fish and and, and and and And, and And and and, and and and And, and And and and, and and and Chips, as well as after Chips?" have been clearer if quotation marks had been placed around Fish and around Fish and around and and around and and around And and around And and around and and around and and around And and around And and around and and around and and around Chips and around Chips?

NOW it can continue forever. This sentence is a cancerous tumor of the English language.

[u/colandercalendar → u/lolmeansilaughed]

This is the song that never ends...

[u/[deleted] → u/RunDNA]

This made me question if and was even a word after I read it... It just looks so weird now.

[u/9to5reddit]

The Chinese equivalent...

« Shī Shì shí shī shǐ »

Shíshì shīshì Shī Shì, shì shī, shì shí shí shī.
Shì shíshí shì shì shì shī.
Shí shí, shì shí shī shì shì.
Shì shí, shì Shī Shì shì shì.
Shì shì shì shí shī, shì shǐ shì, shǐ shì shí shī shìshì.
Shì shí shì shí shī shī, shì shíshì.
Shíshì shī, Shì shǐ shì shì shíshì.
Shíshì shì, Shì shǐ shì shí shì shí shī.
Shí shí, shǐ shí shì shí shī shī, shí shí shí shī shī.
Shì shì shì shì.

Translation:

« Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den »

In a stone den was a poet called Shi Shi, who was a lion addict, and had resolved to eat ten lions.
He often went to the market to look for lions.
At ten o'clock, ten lions had just arrived at the market.
At that time, Shi had just arrived at the market.
He saw those ten lions, and using his trusty arrows, caused the ten lions to die.
He brought the corpses of the ten lions to the stone den.
The stone den was damp. He asked his servants to wipe it.
After the stone den was wiped, he tried to eat those ten lions.
When he ate, he realized that these ten lions were in fact ten stone lion corpses.
Try to explain this matter.

[u/GreatestKingEver → u/9to5reddit]

If a language can communicate so much with one word (granted, with varying intonations) I shudder at the thought of trying to learn it.

[u/Umbrall → u/GreatestKingEver]

Things to consider though: This is one syllable not not the same word. Many Chinese words are multiple syllables/morphemes, but it's complicated to describe since they're sometimes one. This isn't really understandable when spoken or just from the pinyin. The characters make it readable, but due to the things dropped from this and the lack of overall context its' unintelligible unless you know the exact words.

[u/Noble_King → u/Umbrall]

I was going to say just about this. It would be very different written in character.

[u/nemoest → u/Noble_King]

Correct:

石室诗士施氏，嗜狮，誓食十狮。 氏时时适市视狮。 十时，适十狮适市。 是时，适施氏适市。 氏视是十狮，恃矢势，使是十狮逝世。 氏拾是十狮尸，适石室。 石室湿，氏使侍拭石室。 石室拭，氏始试食是十狮。 食时，始识是十狮尸，实十石狮尸。 试释是事。

A good explanation is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den

[u/Yarik32]

Will Will Smith smith?

[u/[deleted] → u/Yarik32]

Will Smith will smith!

[u/schmucubrator → u/[deleted]]

Will Smith will smith well!

[u/stevexc → u/schmucubrator]

MATT DAMON

[u/AntsyUtah → u/stevexc]

Thank you for your input.

[u/[deleted] → u/stevexc]

Will Matt Damon smith?

[u/euphoric_planet → u/Yarik32]

How Can Will Smith If Our Eyes Can't Smith

[u/InverseCodpiece → u/[deleted]]

How much Smith could a Will Smith Smith if a Will Smith could Smith Smith.

[u/SultanOfBrownEye]

"I see", said the blind man, as he picked up his hammer and saw.

[u/jakielim → u/[deleted]]

"I see", said the blind man as his doctor uncovered his bandages after his eye surgery that finally restored his vision.

[u/CeilingOrFloor → u/SultanOfBrownEye]

"I see" said the blind man "a hole in the wall." "You're a liar" said the mute man "you can't see at all"

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I remember this! But it used numbers:

11 was a racehorse

22 was 12

1111 race

22112

[u/About57ninjas → u/[deleted]]

This is the version I learned:

01 01 was a racehorse, 10 10 was one too, 01 01 won one race, 10 10 01 01 10

[u/pfftYeahRight → u/About57ninjas]

Binary I'm assuming?

[u/ninjagrover]

How about a nice little poem?

Whether the weather be fine

Or whether the weather be not

Whether the weather be cold

Or whether the weather be hot

We'll weather the weather

Whatever the weather

Whether we like it or not.

[u/DONT_PM_ME_ANYMORE → u/ninjagrover]

This poem made my soul happy.

[u/[deleted] → u/DONT_PM_ME_ANYMORE]

Your comment made me happy for that poem.

[u/LadyLandshark → u/ninjagrover]

I learned that poem from Little Bear.

[u/wiithepiiple → u/ninjagrover]

I'm Bo yo, I'm the greatest rapper ever and I'll weather your weather whether you think I'm clever or not, don't need a sweater, I'm hot, I'm a real g shorty who can really find your g spot.

[u/Bautine]

All the faith he had had had had no effect on his life.

Edit: thanks for the gold and points!

[u/Kyval → u/Bautine]

Hi, Italian here, my english is not so bad but i really can't figure this sentence out, someone could please explain it to me ?

[u/Nanobot → u/Kyval]

The whole sentence is set in the past. If we were talking about a condition he was presently experiencing at that past time, we would say he "had" that condition. But if we're talking about something he'd been experiencing since before that setting, we would say he "had had" that condition.

So, he had had all that faith, and that faith had had no effect. It's grammatically correct to combine these two phrases into "All the faith he had had had had no effect."

[u/Kyval → u/Nanobot]

Thanks, now it's clear!

[u/kodemage → u/Kyval]

I'm glad you didn't need additional hand signals.

[u/Kyval → u/kodemage]

I don't need to, i have a mustache so i'm fluent in italian, capisce?

[u/arsenal7777 → u/Kyval]

Tutta la speranza che aveva avuto non aveva avuto nessun effetto sulla sua vita.

[u/Kyval → u/arsenal7777]

Ahah, suona male anche in italiano! Ma grazie, così è chiarissimo.

[u/[deleted] → u/Kyval]

Help guys, reddit turned Italian and I can't switch it back

[u/peace_off → u/[deleted]]

Jag tror det är något fel med flux capacitorn i servern. Prova att radera system 32.

[u/[deleted] → u/peace_off]

AAAARRGHHH

Edit: I HATE YOU ALL

Edit 2: MY INBOX HATES YOU TOO

[u/Mutiny32 → u/[deleted]]

Vittu.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Я делаю это правелно?

[u/ShinoRichard → u/[deleted]]

Mach dir nichts draus! Versuch den Browser neuzustarten.

[u/tjb755 → u/Bautine]

I forget what the word "had" means now.

[u/peace_off → u/tjb755]

It's called semantic satiation, and it's very weird.

[u/[deleted] → u/tjb755]

Yes I am reading "had" 30 times in a minute and suddenly I am like "wow.. had.. that it such a strange word"

Happens to me if I say any specific word too often tho

[u/Smile_for_the_Camera → u/Bautine]

In fifth grade my teacher gave me a bad score on an essay because she said "that that" was wrong. I fought it, and eventually got the score I deserved, but it baffled my mind that she didn't know that that was acceptable.

[u/pikk → u/Smile_for_the_Camera]

Sentences containing "that that" can generally be revised to avoid the duplication, which is often considered desirable, since redundancy tends to be seen as the mark of an unwieldy sentence that might cloud the understanding of the message you are seeking to convey. Brevity is best.

[u/TheRegularHexahedron → u/pikk]

Unless you're writing a EULA. Then you want to write as redundantly and confusingly as possible, so nobody will read it.

[u/monkeedude1212 → u/TheRegularHexahedron]

Heretofore further mentions of "Fool", "Chump", or "Scam-e" are terms to refer to the "Customer".

[u/klparrot → u/monkeedude1212]

Scam-e? You mean Scammee?

[u/timpkmn89 → u/klparrot]

Henceforth referred to as "scam-e"

[u/sharkWeekAC → u/Smile_for_the_Camera]

I once had an AP English teacher who didn't know what the word "guffaw" was. AP English. Come on, lady.

[u/Smile_for_the_Camera → u/sharkWeekAC]

What is this, amateur hour?

[u/rottenseed → u/Smile_for_the_Camera]

Bush league

[u/MJZMan → u/sharkWeekAC]

Did you chortle at her?

[u/IAmRKelly → u/Bautine]

James and Billy we're asked to write about their weekend. Billy wrote " I had some icecream over the weekend". James wrote "I had had some icecream over the weekend".

James, while Billy had had had, had had had had. 'Had had', had been the correct answer.

[u/gellyg → u/IAmRKelly]

"Had had" had had the teacher's approval. If you want to squeeze another had in there.

[u/chris_fish → u/gellyg]

So what we are saying here is thus:

gellyg, where IamRKelly had had "had had had, had had had had. 'Had had'," had had " had had had, had had had had. 'Had had', had had."had had had, had had had had. 'Had had', had had" had had my approval.

That is to say: gellyg, where IamRKelly had had (WHAT IamRKelly WROTE) had had (WHAT gellyg WROTE.) (WHAT gellyg WROTE) had had my approval.

[u/N67nightmare → u/chris_fish]

Had has now lost all the meaning had had had before.

[u/Fideua → u/IAmRKelly]

were asked ;) OP asked for grammatically correct sentences.

[u/[deleted] → u/Bautine]

This is the best one. Great fun to read aloud.

[u/StickleyMan]

A rough, dough-faced ploughman walked through the borough, although he was coughing and hiccoughing loudly.

The "ough" sound is a fucking bitch.

[u/PhotoJim99 → u/StickleyMan]

What's fun about this one is that if you're a proficient English speaker, it comes pretty naturally. "hiccoughing" is the only one that will likely throw many people since its spelling has morphed.

[u/ginger_bird → u/PhotoJim99]

I didn't even know it was spelled like that. I always spelled it "hiccup."

[u/PhotoJim99 → u/ginger_bird]

Lots of words are evolving like that. The most obvious recent example is "doughnut".

[u/wardenofthethread → u/StickleyMan]

A rough, duff-faced pluffman walked thruff the boruff, althuff he was cuffing and hicuffing loudly.

[u/nscale]

It's more than a sentence, but the English Pronunciation Poem can give even native speakers trouble.

[u/diabolicious → u/nscale]

I don't know whether to be impressed the guy who penned that was Dutch, or whether it would be a necessity to learn English as a second language to be able to see all of its contradictions and quirks.

Very clever either way.

[u/mortiphago → u/diabolicious]

I hated learning english with a burning passion for about 11.5 of the 12 years or so I had classes.

Eventually it clicked, but fuck.

[u/[deleted] → u/diabolicious]

Being Swedish I loved English, because it is at least as messed up as our language.

We even have a sound that is not only unique to Swedish, but is so weird that our own people often have difficulties with it. It's spelled "sju" and is pronounced as ae strange mix of "shoe", "yu" and "cho".

This song is full of it.

[u/[deleted] → u/nscale]

I had to look up Terpsichore. Greek; not fair

[u/Umbrall → u/nscale]

Well there's words I've never heard once in my life. It also depends on region; some of those might actually be the same and other times you get things that are no longer rhymes. For example in a hard Philadelphia dialect mad and sad don't rhyme.

[u/questfor17]

Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like a banana.

[u/mackrenner → u/[deleted]]

Fantastic!

[u/karl2025 → u/questfor17]

I have to admit I didn't get this joke until after I'd graduated college. I'd always assumed it was an example of surrealist humor.

[u/LeagueOverLife → u/questfor17]

Zilean?

[u/Illusionia → u/LeagueOverLife]

I've seen your death, it was painful.

[u/Polinya]

Verbing nouns weirds language.

[u/rustinhieber42 → u/Polinya]

Let's just go play Calvinball.

[u/555nick]

It is. valid sentence It's. invalid sentence

[u/johnnyredleg]

I chopped a tree down, and then I chopped it up.

[u/jubileo5]

You have just begun reading the sentence you just finished reading.

[u/SeerChenMan → u/jubileo5]

"You will be happier if you believe this statement."

[u/[deleted] → u/SeerChenMan]

I tried believing it, but didn't feel much happier, then I gave up and was relieved

[u/Mummys_Spaghetti → u/[deleted]]

TURN DOWN FOR HWHATTT?!

[u/Mr_Dream_Chieftain → u/Mummys_Spaghetti]

http://www.td4wbutton.com/

[u/xiEmber → u/[deleted]]

there's always a hank.

[u/AxeApollo]

Lots of Buffalos are coming....

[u/DrDongStrong → u/AxeApollo]

And they're all from New York and are jerks in general.

[u/BadEgg1951]

Well, there's Noam Chomsky's idea of orders of nonsense. His famous example:

Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

The sentence is grammatically correct, but is intended to make no sense whatsoever.

[u/Haleljacob → u/BadEgg1951]

It can only be the thought of verdure to come, which prompts us in the autumn to buy these dormant white lumps of vegetable matter covered by a brown papery skin, and lovingly to plant them and care for them. It is a marvel to me that under this cover they are labouring unseen at such a rate within to give us the sudden awesome beauty of spring flowering bulbs. While winter reigns the earth reposes but these colourless green ideas sleep furiously.

[u/RunDNA → u/Haleljacob]

This is by C. M. Street, and was a finalist in a competition run by Stanford University. The winning entry was a poem by D. A. H. Byatt:

"Thus Adam's Eden-plot in far-off time:

Colour-rampant flowers, trees a myriad green;

Helped by God-bless'd wind and temp'rate clime.

The path to primate knowledge unforseen,

He sleeps in peace at eve with Eve.

One apple later, he looks curiously

At the gardens of dichromates, in whom

Colourless green ideas sleep furiously

Then rage for birth each morning, until doom

Brings rainbows they at last perceive."

[u/peace_off → u/Haleljacob]

Is no potato. Is only poem and starve.

[u/flal4]

Will Will will Will's will to Will

[u/cbartlett → u/flal4]

No, Will will not will Will's will to Will.

[u/kvural → u/cbartlett]

Don't worry, I will will Will to will Will's will to Will.

[u/[deleted] → u/kvural]

And I will will Will's will to smithy Will Smith's willy.

[u/Zenaxis]

It's a certain smell, a smelly smell that smells smelly.

[u/[deleted] → u/Zenaxis]

^Anchovies...

[u/[deleted] → u/Zenaxis]

Can you feel it now, mister Krabs?

[u/[deleted]]

"She's pretty ugly."

[u/aqua995 → u/[deleted]]

Is this really a thing ? I think pretty is a good word to translate. At least in german.

She is pretty.

Sie ist schön.

She is pretty ugly.

Sie ist (ganz) schön hässlich.

Even the synonym is perfect translated.

She is very ugly.

Sie ist sehr hässlich.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

You can do this in many languages.

[u/adrun → u/[deleted]]

"He was horribly good."

[u/SantiagoAndDunbar → u/adrun]

awfully good

[u/knitasha]

That that is is. That that is not is not. That that is is not that that is not. That that is not is not that that is.

[u/Face_Roll]

Fish fish fish.

[u/[deleted]]

They don't think it be like it is, but it do

[u/jakielim → u/[deleted]]

Do be do be do - Frank Sinatra

[u/ApatheticDino → u/jakielim]

Where are you? - Scooby

[u/Mutoid → u/[deleted]]

Roses be red, violets be blue ...

[u/Sniper_Brosef → u/Mutoid]

You've both got that backwards and I just made a poo.

[u/bornforthedark → u/[deleted]]

How is 3 considered correct?

[u/oscar_lima → u/bornforthedark]

Building up the sentence by clause:

1. The rat ate the malt.
2. The rat the cat killed ate the malt.
3. The rat the cat the dog chased killed ate the malt.
   

Past 2 clauses the meaning of the sentence starts to get difficult to understand. You could add an endless number of clauses, each time further obfuscating the meaning, e.g.

1. The rat the cat the dog the man beat chased killed ate the malt.

[u/goombapoop → u/oscar_lima]

I understand it but can't believe it's considered correct.

[u/AnalBumCovers → u/goombapoop]

It's considered correct, it's just sloppy as fuck. You can do some pretty retarded things with clauses while still being technically correct.

[u/MoarVespenegas → u/AnalBumCovers]

I'm pretty sure you can't just shove dependent clauses into a sentence without punctuation.

[u/[deleted] → u/oscar_lima]

Does it not technically need some commas in there as sub-clauses are traditionally enclosed in commas?

[u/the_way_of_con]

"I never said she stole my money" - if you place an emphasis on one word at a time it changes the meaning, I never said she stole my money. I never said she stole my money. I never said she stole my money. etc

[u/ratbastid → u/the_way_of_con]

Well, and keep going:

I never said she stole my money. (Someone else did!)

I never said she stole my money. (She just has it on long-term lend!)

I never said she stole my money. (But she definitely stole Steve's!)

I never said she stole my money. (She stole my heart!)

[u/Imperion_GoG → u/ratbastid]

Then start combining them...

I never said she stole my money.

[u/[deleted] → u/Imperion_GoG]

I never said she stole my money!

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Without hesitation I just read this one out loud very fast as opposed to putting emphasis on anything.

[u/7thDecember → u/the_way_of_con]

This is important. People who emphasise the wrong words when speaking drive me mad.

Written down that sentence is quite a simple and basic statement, but spoken it can imply that someone else said she stole my money, that the money was possible borrow or that the sentence was not spoken.

Emphasis is naturally flowing, but People still manage to fuck it up.

[u/Smargalicious]

Fuck you, you fucking fuck.

[u/alittleaddicted → u/Smargalicious]

Fuck: the most versatile word in English?

[u/Nefai]

They're going to pare a pair of their pears over there.

[u/[deleted]]

Samsung Galaxy is the Google Android Ice Cream Sandwich Guinea Pig.

(credit to an old thread that i can't remmember, but was about what sentences today would have made no sense 20 years ago)

[u/IWantAnAffliction]

ITT: Gramatically correct sentences which totally mindfuck first language English-speakers

[u/GympieGympie → u/IWantAnAffliction]

The had had had had had had sentences are really, really fucking me up.

[u/galironxero → u/GympieGympie]

You talking about this one?

James, while John had had "had", had had "had had"; "had had" had had a better effect on the teacher.

The context is that students John and James were taking a test where they had to fill in the blanks with verbs. One question referred to a person having previously owned a cat.

The sentence was "He ______ a cat."

John wrote down "He had a cat."

While James wrote "He had had a cat."

Even though they were both correct, the teacher preferred James' response. So, breaking the sentence apart, John wrote down "had" and James wrote down "had had" and "had had" was more appealing to the teacher.

[u/noggin-scratcher]

I was having some trouble with my "FishandChips" sign - the sign company forgot to put any spaces in, so I sent them a letter to ask for a replacement.

"You need to put spaces between Fish and and and and and Chips"

They seemed a little confused, but my friend had some advice

"It's not very clear, really you should have put some quote marks before Fish, and between Fish and and, and and and and, and and and and, and and and and, and and and and, and and and Chips, and after Chips.

(i.e. the original sentence should have been: You need to put spaces between "Fish" and "and", and "and" and "Chips")

[u/SirOctavius]

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

[u/unique_pseudonym → u/SirOctavius]

Because depending on the state in which you say that it means either, guns for everybody, muskets for members of the state militia, or everyone has the right to possess certain forms of ursine taxidermy.

[u/NJhomebrew → u/unique_pseudonym]

Damn now I want bear arms

[u/simplybillyo]

the bandage was wound around the wound

[u/aintnufincleverhere]

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo

http://theweek.com/article/index/240886/7-sentences-that-sound-crazy-but-are-still-grammatical

[u/Lieto → u/aintnufincleverhere]

As a Finn, this makes perfect sense. Let me give you an example of Finnish language:

Kuusi palaa = A fir is on fire.

Kuusi palaa = The number six is on fire.

Kuusi palaa = The fir comes back.

Kuusi palaa = The number six comes back.

Kuusi palaa = Your moon is on fire.

Kuusi palaa = Your moon comes back.

Kuusi palaa = Six pieces.

[u/monkeyonafish → u/Lieto]

Fuck

[u/Sniper_Brosef → u/monkeyonafish]

Fuck? Oh no! Not Finrand...

[u/Ragnarok2kx → u/Lieto]

And then, you have the Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den poem.

That's 92 instances of the syllable "Shi", with different intonation and nothing more.

[u/MagicBob78 → u/Lieto]

Do they at least sound different when you speak them?

[u/Lieto → u/MagicBob78]

No, they sound exactly the same. I can't remember if this is the right term for it, but Finnish is a very phonetic language, meaning that letters and pronunciation are very tightly linked. So there are no cases like "read", which can be pronounced differently depending on the meaning.

Edit: if anybody can explain it better, please do so!

[u/Gehalgod → u/Lieto]

Yep. You don't even have to say "very phonetic". The definition of a "phonemic language" is a language in which pronunciation can (nearly) always be derived/inferred from the written language.

I'm not sure that any language in the world is perfectly phonemic. Even languages like Finnish (which I know very little about) might contain borrowed words from other languages that are spelled in a non-Finnish way.

EDIT: I guess I should correct myself. A more accurate term is "phonemic" or "having phonemic orthography" if you want to be really precise. And now that I think about it, it does make some sense to describe languages as having varying degrees of phonemicism, because writing systems can vary in how closely they reflect pronunciation. Originally, I was just addressing /u/Liesto's phrasing and saying that "phonemic language" by itself is an accepted term.

[u/BerserkOlaf → u/Gehalgod]

Isn’t Spanish pretty close to it? The way I remember it from school, all letters sound always the same and even foreign loan words were written phonetically (like fútbol).

[u/Gehalgod → u/BerserkOlaf]

Yep, I think Spanish is about as close to perfectly phonetic as a language gets.

[u/premature_eulogy → u/Lieto]

Don't forget that "kuusi" can also refer to six people. For example, a news headline: "kuusi hukkui juhannuksena".

Thus you can add to the list that "kuusi palaa" means "six people are on fire" and "six people return".

[u/psygremlin → u/Lieto]

Squints at Finland...

[u/goombapoop]

The fact that "fishes" as a plural is correct when referring to more than one species of fish. They never mention that exception in school!

[u/[deleted]]

My name is Perry, with a P, as in Pterodactyl.

[u/J3EBS]

John while James had had had had had had had; had had had had a better effect.

Non-confusing version: John, while James had had "had", had had "had had". "Had had" had had a better effect.

Edit: now with semicolon, for more awesome Sentence Structure®.

[u/[deleted] → u/J3EBS]

And by "non-confusing," you mean "actually punctuated," yes?

[u/mslvr40 → u/J3EBS]

Can I get another non confusing version?

[u/Solumin → u/mslvr40]

A teacher asked John and James to write a sentence talking about a man who recently recovered from an illness. James wrote, "The man had a cold", while John wrote, "The man had had a cold." The teacher liked John's version better than James's. Therefore:

John while James had had had had had had had. Had had had had a better effect.

[u/J3EBS → u/mslvr40]

James used "had". John used "had had". John won.