The word “buffalo” can be used as a noun or verb, and even form a grammatically correct sentence of repeated buffalos. William J. Rapaport invented it in 1972 and used it throughout his career. Other words like dice, fish, object, and gift can also be used in a similar way. The article also mentions palindromic and pangram sentences, as well as Groucho Marx’s joke about shooting an elephant in pajamas.
If you’re someone who likes to be concise, you should love the word “buffalo.” Not only is the word versatile: as a noun it is an animal or a large city in New York, and as a verb it means to baffle or intimidate someone.
Surprisingly, it can even form a long sentence on its own: “Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo.” It may not be easy to understand, but it is still grammatically correct. Basically, it’s another way of saying that some Buffalo in the city of Buffalo who are intimidated by other buffalo in the Buffalo area also intimidate other buffalo in their own city. Understood?
The phrase is the brainchild of William J. Rapaport, a former philosophy professor at the State University of New York at (no surprise) Buffalo. He invented it in 1972 as an undergraduate at Indiana University. Rapaport gained some fame from the phrase and used it throughout his career.
In fact, the word “buffalo” isn’t unique in its ability to be used repeatedly in a sentence as both a noun and a verb, so if you have lots of spare time – and you love drawing sentences – you might want to try making your own. Some suggestions: dice, fish, object and gift.
If you like playing with sentences:
“Eve, I can see bees in a cave” is an example of a palindromic sentence, meaning it reads the same back and forth.
“The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog,” is a pangram – it uses all 26 letters of the English alphabet – often used in typing lessons.
Groucho Marx joked that “one morning I shot an elephant in pajamas” to illustrate how a structurally sound sentence can have multiple meanings: Was Marx or the elephant wearing pajamas?
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