James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher
- James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher
"James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher" is an English sentence demonstrating lexical ambiguity. The sentence is often given as a word puzzle for which one must find the proper punctuation to give it meaning. [ [http://acmicpc-live-archive.uva.es/nuevoportal/data/problem.php?p=3802 3802 - Operator Jumble] ] Reichenbach used it in 1947, as an exercise to the reader (but as "John where Jack…"), to illustrate the different levels of language, namely object language and metalanguage. [Reichenbach, Hans (1947) Elements of symbolic logic. London: Collier-MacMillan. Exercise 3-4, p.405; solution p.417.]
The phrase can be understood more clearly by adding punctuation and quotation marks:quote
James, while John had had "had," had had "had had";
"had had" had had a better effect on the teacher. [ [http://www.amrita.edu/icpc/2006/Problems-Onsite.pdf "Problem C: Operator Jumble"] . 31st ACM International Collegiate Programming Conference, 2006–2007.] The meaning could thus be rendered, after some reordering and changing a few words, "While John had used 'had,' James had used 'had had.' The teacher had preferred 'had had.'"
Use in Literature
A similar, punctuated repetition of had had appears in Jasper Fforde's the Well of Lost Plots;" 'Good. Item seven. The had had and that that problem. [...] 'Okay,' said the Bellman, whose head was in danger of falling apart like a chocolate orange, 'let me get this straight: David Copperfield, unlike Pilgrim's Progress, which had had had, had had had had. Had had had had TGC's approval?"'
There was a very long pause.
'Right,' said the Bellman with a sigh.
ee also
*Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo
*List of linguistic example sentences
*That that is is that that is not is not is that it it is
References
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher — «James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher» предложение на английском языке, которое используют для демонстрации возможной лексической неопределённости, а также необходимости использования… … Википедия
James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher — « James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher » est une phrase anglaise, trompe oreilles utilisé pour démontrer l’ambigüité du mot « had » ainsi que la nécessité de la… … Wikipédia en Français
James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher — ist ein englischsprachiger Satz, der die Notwendigkeit von Satzzeichen und die Mehrdeutigkeit des Wortes had verdeutlicht. Bedeutung Der Satz wird häufig als Rätsel verwendet, bei dem man Satzzeichen hinzufügen muss, um ihn grammatikalisch… … Deutsch Wikipedia
Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den — The Lion Eating Poet in the Stone Den (zh stp|s=施氏食狮史|t=施氏食獅史|p=Shī Shì shí shī shǐ) is a famous example of constrained writing by Yuen Ren Chao which consists of 92 characters, all with the sound shi in different tones when read in Mandarin. The … Wikipedia
The Benedictine Order — The Benedictine Order † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The Benedictine Order The Benedictine Order comprises monks living under the Rule of St. Benedict, and commonly known as black monks . The order will be considered in this article under… … Catholic encyclopedia
John Mitchel — (Irish: Seán Mistéil; b.November 3, 1815 ndash; d. March 20, 1875) was an Irish nationalist activist, solicitor and political journalist. Born in Camnish, near Dungiven, County Londonderry, Ireland he became a leading Member of both Young Ireland … Wikipedia
The Irish (in Countries Other Than Ireland) — The Irish (in countries other than Ireland) † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The Irish (in countries other than Ireland) I. IN THE UNITED STATES Who were the first Irish to land on the American continent and the time of their arrival are … Catholic encyclopedia
The United States of America — The United States of America † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The United States of America BOUNDARIES AND AREA On the east the boundary is formed by the St. Croix River and an arbitrary line to the St. John, and on the north by the… … Catholic encyclopedia
The Final Cut (album) — The Final Cut Studio album by Pink Floyd … Wikipedia
John Wycliffe — John Wickliffe redirects here. For the ship, see John Wickliffe (ship). John Wycliffe Full name John Wycliffe Born c. 1328 Ipreswell, England Died 31 December 1384 … Wikipedia
