Had had...etc

[Doggri]

Anyone else heard that teaser...?

"John, where James had had 'had' had had 'had had'.  'Had had' had had the examiners aproval." 

After years of people trying to explain it to me I finally get it!!!!!  Also, it's easier to understand when you see it written down.

[Quizmonster]

Yes, I have heard of it and yes, it is easier to understand when seen written down! Now, how about the sentence with the word 'and' written five times in sequence? I've seen it, too. Have you?

[bernardo]

The landlord of the Dog and Partridge pub didn't like the sign, so he employed a sign-writer to paint a new one with more space between the "dog" and "and", and "and" and "partridge".

Further confusion was caused when a rival pub was opened under the name "Dog and And and And and Partridge".

[bernardo]

Oh by the way, you can keep it as one sentence if you splurge a semi-colon in the mibble instead of catastrophising it up into two sentences, thus:

Smith, where Jones had had "had", had had "had had"; "had had" had had the examiner's approval.

[smorodina]

Now all we need is someone to explain 'splurge a semi-colon in the mibble'!

[crisgal]

duh, i don't get the "had" one!

[bernardo]

crisgal wrote:

duh, i don't get the "had" one! 
 
Smith and Jones both took an examination to test their knowledge and usage of the English language.  In one sentence, they were unsure about whether to use the simple past tense (for example, "he had measles") or the pluperfect tense (for example, "he had had measles").  Jones decided to employ the simple past tense, and therefore wrote "...had...".  Smith, however, decided to use the past perfect (or pluperfect) tense, and wrote "...had had...".  The examiner who marked their answers made the judgement that the use of the pluperfect tense was more appropriate in the circumstances, and so gave higher marks to the person who had written "had had" rather than "had".

[crisgal]

oh! I see!! Thanks!

[danube]

Talking of 'and's, how about the decorators named Hand and Anderson who failed to put enough space between the words ''hand and and and and and anderson''

Like e e cummings they wanted their title all in lower case!!

Danube

[schmeeges]

Well Smorodino, I think Bernardo may be somewhat thrifty with his punctuations marks, and perhaps with two letter words? Maybe there are deep-seated issues in his past about the wanton use of the semi-colon and we're seeing a bit of rebelliousness.Perhaps someone could start a support group for the grammatically traumatised.

[schmeeges]

...apologies bella Smorodina, for changing your gender in my previous post, and I forgot to say, to the delightful Bernardo, I adore the word 'mibble'. Has a bit of a RowanAtkinsonian ring to it.