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Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo

mentalfloss.com — Believe it or not, this sentence is grammatically correct and has meaning: “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.”

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  • caponumen, on 03/12/2008, -4/+181Wings...
  • Iconoclast25, on 03/12/2008, -13/+20Neat !!
    • HeDiggMe, on 03/12/2008, -0/+15From Latin class: Malo malo malo malo. It means "I'd rather be in an apple tree than a bad man in adversity."
      • HoratioHellpop, on 03/12/2008, -0/+3From Eastern Philosophy class: A rolling stone has more wisdom than an old man sitting in a bowl of cole slaw.
        • 8177, on 03/12/2008, -0/+22From my grandfather: Shut the ***** up Wheel of Fortune is on.
        • Jergens, on 03/13/2008, -1/+1From Adam Sandler's mom: "They're all gonna laugh at you!"
      • userbl1360, on 03/13/2008, -0/+0cane cane de cane

    • Akaji, on 03/13/2008, -0/+6How many cans can a can-can can? A can-can can can as many cans as a can-can can can.
    • jametta, on 03/13/2008, -0/+0No sir, I don't, like it
  • Emused, on 03/12/2008, -4/+47That is one town, me and my all bison mime troupe will make sure to "steer" clear of.Word.
  • 0crabby0, on 03/12/2008, -12/+7Beefalo, Cattalo...
  • Slash0, on 03/12/2008, -4/+279http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Buffalo_Buffa ...
    Might as well just link to the Wikipedia article this is copied from...
    • hektur, on 03/12/2008, -14/+3It has a spoken version of the page. I played it during english class at full volume on my computer, my teacher didnt have a sense of humour and sent me to the office.
      • spudnic, on 03/12/2008, -2/+26You sound like the kind of kid I hate teaching.
      • Joshuarr, on 03/12/2008, -4/+13Not that I care or anything, but maybe it's YOU that doesn't have a sense of humor? I bet that same teacher would find this interesting or funny after class and a couple screwdrivers. Teaching is ***** hard, and made harder by a lack of respect.
      • drakenlot, on 03/12/2008, -0/+4So your sense of humour is disrupting your teacher with full blast recordings?

        I guess I don't have a sense of humour either, cause I find that moronic.
      • gritta, on 03/13/2008, -0/+3Get a real sense of humour and stop being an attention seeking brat.
    • toconnor, on 03/12/2008, -3/+25or this http://digg.com/software/Buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_b ... from 2006
      • RyeBrye, on 03/12/2008, -3/+1I knew I'd seen it here before... thanks for reminding me where
      • ThinkBox, on 03/13/2008, -0/+12006? wow, I remember reading that... feels like a lot sooner...
    • mateusap, on 03/12/2008, -1/+3Indeed, for any n ≥ 1, the sentence buffalon is grammatically correct (according to Chomskyan theories of grammar).[3] The shortest is 'Buffalo!', meaning either 'bully (someone)!', or 'look, there are buffalo, here!', or 'behold, the city of Buffalo!' For n = 0, this could be argued to be a valid garden path sentence if one's definition of 'sentence' allowed "" as a valid construction. Rational sentences, however, generally include at least one word and thus n = 0 is excluded from the preceding argument.

      this is unbelievably fun
    • ophello, on 03/12/2008, -2/+3James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher
    • stackered, on 03/13/2008, -3/+1I'm normally annoyed when people point out that they posted something first... but c'mon... I posted this like 2 months ago or longer - I guess the network of the poster way overrules the content of the article.
  • RealmDown, on 03/12/2008, -6/+356badger badger badger badger badger badger badger
    • MetaMars, on 03/12/2008, -1/+160mushroom! mushroom!
      • nullx42, on 03/12/2008, -0/+106SNAAAKKEEE SNAKKEEE OOOHHH ITS A SNAKKKEEE
      • sockpuppets, on 03/12/2008, -19/+5Peanut butter jelly and a baseball bat?
      • GuacamoleSan, on 03/13/2008, -0/+6...........
        badger badger badger badger badger badger badger
    • unicronband, on 03/12/2008, -11/+40DESU DESU DESU DESU
      • kyouteki, on 03/12/2008, -2/+18needs moar desu
        • someone173406, on 03/12/2008, -4/+7Cowbell!
        • mysedai, on 03/12/2008, -6/+1If it needs more desu and it needs more cowbell, then doesn't the transitive property state that desu = cowbell?
      • hakz, on 03/12/2008, -3/+7fapfapfapfapfapfapfapfapfap
    • KillerSiafu, on 03/12/2008, -1/+57SNAKE!!!!!!!!
    • NOFXY, on 03/12/2008, -35/+2THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!! THE BEST!!!
    • highwindscloud, on 03/12/2008, -8/+1AHHHHH IT'S A SNAKE!!
    • drakenlot, on 03/12/2008, -0/+10You know, this concept works with badger the exact same way;
      a badger is an animal, a verb (I think it's similar to annoy) and a town in Newfoundland, Canada.
      • PoeticExplosion, on 03/12/2008, -0/+6Actually, it almost works better. Badger is a verb that a lot more people know than "buffalo".
      • MikeEnIke, on 03/12/2008, -0/+3Yea but wouldn't the plural of badger be badgers? So Badger badger badger, meaning badgers from badger who badger, wouldn't be grammatically correct.
        • 8177, on 03/12/2008, -2/+3That would not matter. Buffalo is both many and one. a badger who badger Badger badger still makes sense. Or should i L2grammer.
          • MikeEnIke, on 03/12/2008, -0/+5It would have to be a badger who, badgers Badger Badgers. The verb doesn't agree with badger as a singular.
      • Jergens, on 03/13/2008, -0/+5Buffalo badgers badger badger buffalo
    • GreenMage, on 03/13/2008, -0/+10"Badger badgers badger Badger badgers badger Badger badgers"
    • Jeffler, on 03/13/2008, -10/+1ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND FOOTBALL FOOTBALL
      • Jeffler, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1I take it none of you guys watched the Euro 2004 edition of badgers badgers badgers?
    • luke374, on 03/13/2008, -1/+7God damnit ... I went to that site and watched that video for like 10 minutes straight. It's so memorizing you forget it's looped.
    • Ludwig, on 03/13/2008, -0/+5We don't need no stinking badgers!
    • spicky04, on 03/13/2008, -0/+2SNAKE-A-SNAKE!!!!1
  • doctechnical, on 03/12/2008, -8/+2I haven't had this much fun with English since GHOUGHPHTHEIGHTTEEAU.
    • Smyley, on 03/12/2008, -3/+3That's just like GHOTI.
      • mykalimba, on 03/12/2008, -1/+2I know a fish when I see it. (Don't know why you're being dug down.)
        • doctechnical, on 03/12/2008, -1/+1That's one pronunciation, another is utterly silent:
          GH as in though
          O as in people
          T as in listen
    • drakenlot, on 03/12/2008, -1/+1Come again?
  • itsgotyou, on 03/12/2008, -33/+12***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
    • pyro789x, on 03/12/2008, -0/+5Buffalo ***** buffalo buffalo Buffalo ***** buffalo. ***** Buffalo ***** buffalo!
    • IllBeBack, on 03/13/2008, -0/+2you you you you you you you you you you
  • Newportbeachguy, on 03/12/2008, -9/+2I've ate buffalo balls in Colorado.
    • SheilaNoya, on 03/12/2008, -0/+27Just wondering.... Who enjoyed it more, you or the buffalo?
    • Accolade1, on 03/12/2008, -1/+5That's one way to castrate a bull.
  • tehgoatman, on 03/12/2008, -6/+56This will be the 3rd time this has been on the front page i can remember if it makes it.
    • dasutin, on 03/12/2008, -5/+3Exactly, this was on the front page last year
    • t0ken, on 03/12/2008, -8/+2To what point is your comment?
    • santaliqueur, on 03/12/2008, -6/+8Hey man. There's this awesome new concept called "Not everyone has seen exactly the same ***** you've seen". Check it out sometime.
    • L4WL3RS34L, on 03/12/2008, -2/+2Just because not everyone has seen this doesn't mean everything should be reposted. Digg was mainly supposed to be a news site, which contains the word "new" in it. Something that has been posted 2-3 times in the past 2 years is not considered news, and should not be posted here. There's an infinite amount of things on the internet, and somehow the same things always end up back on digg.
      • SpikeTheSenses, on 03/13/2008, -1/+1kinda like how the news always has new stories on it you've never heard before right? yeah right...

    • EwMo, on 03/13/2008, -0/+0yea, check the URL
  • ElRaval, on 03/12/2008, -15/+1you're hired you're hired you're hired you're hired you're hired you're hired
  • eatkitten, on 03/12/2008, -4/+19badger badger badger badger badger badger? a snake?
  • Continuum, on 03/12/2008, -4/+109I always found the Police example easier to understand since you rarely hear buffalo as a verb anymore.

    who polices?
    Police police.

    Who polices the police?
    Police police police police.

    Who polices police police?
    police police police police police.

    and so on.
    • SpaceMonkeyZero, on 03/12/2008, -0/+48Just call it Internal Affairs and be done with it!
    • john2kx, on 03/12/2008, -19/+1Who polices? The police.
      Who polices police? The police police.

      You have too many police in yours.
      • db0255, on 03/12/2008, -0/+6Who polices police?
        The police police police (whom) police. Sounds right to me...
      • nhprm, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1It could also be "Police" police (as in this is their designation) police (other) police
    • spudnic, on 03/12/2008, -0/+22That's just two meanings of the word repeated though, this one is great because of all the different meanings.
      • KingGorilla, on 03/12/2008, -4/+2Meanings we don't use anymore!
        • SpaceMonkeyZero, on 03/14/2008, -0/+1Stop buffaloing him. He's on a roll.
      • pauleric, on 03/12/2008, -2/+3But the "police police" thing works to infinity, and beyond!
    • hypnotoad32, on 03/12/2008, -1/+7De do do do, de da da da
      Is all I want to say to you
      De do do do, de da da da
      They're meaningless and all that's true
    • DrummerAndrew, on 03/12/2008, -0/+10It starts to look like a different word after you read it so many times. Especially the lowercase ones.
      • billgreen73, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1Police polish Polish police
      • db0255, on 03/14/2008, -0/+2it really does, doesn't it? i started asking myself what's a poh-lice (rhymes with Bo Rice). i guess we're so used to reading words and not analyzing them..
    • pyro789x, on 03/12/2008, -0/+6Re: Who polices police police?

      Actually, police police police police police police.
      • shuckl4k, on 03/13/2008, -0/+2the man be right! digg him up!
      • Continuum, on 03/13/2008, -0/+2good eye, i (obviously) didn't notice. :)
    • chimaera2005, on 03/13/2008, -2/+3Did anyone EVER use buffalo as a verb (before this was posted on Digg 3+ times)?
      • nhprm, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1Maybe you should check the OED. To bad its not wiki, or we could rewrite history.
        • chimaera2005, on 03/16/2008, -0/+2We can rewrite history. By stopping the propagation of a stupid ***** word.
  • levitron, on 03/12/2008, -3/+12It's funny- I first read this sentence about 4 years ago, understood the concept, but it wasn't clear. This time, it made sense on the first reading.
    • 2bees, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1I'm confused myself. :-)
    • moletimer, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1Yeah, last time I saw it (on wikipedia) I looked at it and thought 'what the *****?'. I didn't actually read the explanation on why it makes sense, so I just forgot about it. But now it is all clear : )
  • VyPR, on 03/12/2008, -1/+93It's only grammatically correct if shouted by a sweaty Steve Ballmer.
  • erikerikerik, on 03/12/2008, -5/+6dupe, but I'm still digging it. +1 for useless educational knowledge.
  • Qtip42, on 03/12/2008, -9/+59developers developers developers developers
  • law1ess, on 03/12/2008, -2/+127Duplicate duplicate duplicate duplicate duplicate duplicate duplicate duplicate
  • stevensj2, on 03/12/2008, -0/+97After seeing it so much, the word "buffalo" no longer seems real.
  • Salviati, on 03/12/2008, -2/+44You've got the last two buffalo backwards...no seriously. It should read:

    Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
    • sailadayaway, on 03/12/2008, -0/+13Actually, it should be 8 buffalos, he only has seven...
    • DephexTwin, on 03/12/2008, -0/+12You forgot a "buffalo":
      Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
    • DrStrabismus, on 03/12/2008, -1/+4I find it easier to understand when I put pauses at the right places:
      Buffalo buffalo, Buffalo buffalo buffalo, buffalo, Buffalo buffalo.
  • linksdeity, on 03/12/2008, -21/+4Thanks for the 5th grade English memories, but seriously, why is this crap front page?
    • tkilgore04, on 03/12/2008, -7/+2Agreed.
    • SatansSpatula, on 03/12/2008, -2/+3Because my nerdy coworker and I just spend five minutes looking at it in order to figure it out. Nerds like puzzles.
    • djepik, on 03/13/2008, -0/+2Because not everyone was in your 5th grade English class. How big did you think the internet was?
  • adesalvo, on 03/12/2008, -10/+2I'm one mushroom cloud layin' *****, *****!
  • MonumentMan, on 03/12/2008, -4/+9utica utica utica utica utica utica utica utica
    • iPirate, on 03/12/2008, -1/+3Yorkville yorkville yorkville yorkville yorkville yorkville Yorkville yorkville.
  • dyreschlock, on 03/12/2008, -3/+1i hoping for an animation similar to the badger one :/
  • audiodude34, on 03/12/2008, -6/+4He was a buffalo soldier....
  • sulayman, on 03/12/2008, -3/+11Tagalog has it beat. You can have an entire exchange using only one syllable.

    "Bababa ba?"
    "Bababa."
    • samury, on 03/12/2008, -1/+5Gibberish!!! Okay seriously, you could put a translation.

      "Are you going downstairs?"
      "I'm going downstairs."
    • spiltmilkblog, on 03/12/2008, -1/+3I don't speak Tagalog. Translation, please? :)
      • otakugeek, on 03/12/2008, -0/+2As the previous post stated, it was:
        "Are you going downstairs?"
        "I'm going downstairs."
        • rationalist, on 03/13/2008, -1/+1"Spiltmilkblog?"
          "Otakugeek."
        • spiltmilkblog, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1Thanks - We must have posted at the same time, because the translation was not there when I hit "Submit Comment"
    • Lutremi, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1Bababa ba bababa?
      Bababa [nang bababa].

      Is whoever going downstairs going down?
      [They're] going down.
  • someone173406, on 03/12/2008, -11/+6DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS
  • EskNerd, on 03/12/2008, -3/+2I never saw nobody buffalo Bill the way she buffaloed Bill.
  • mechman, on 03/12/2008, -6/+4I can see it now: "LOLBUFFALO".
  • andreeee, on 03/12/2008, -6/+5The information in the article is useless useless useless useless useless useless useless.
    • 10lbhammer, on 03/12/2008, -0/+5useless, unlike "50 People Looking for Virgin Mary in the Sun Go Blind" that you dug yesterday? at least one is a mental exercise. the other is just stupidity in action...
      • drakenlot, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1But he dugg stupidity because he understands it, this stuff is too much for his five brain cells to work out.
  • eggloaf, on 03/12/2008, -2/+40http://digg.com/odd_stuff/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_ ...

    As opposed to
    http://digg.com/odd_stuff/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_ ...
    or
    http://digg.com/odd_stuff/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_ ...
    ?
  • lornefs, on 03/12/2008, -0/+7Great, now the word buffalo has lost all meaning.
    • ninjasaurus, on 03/12/2008, -0/+2That happens to me all the time. When I was reading the above "police" example, I kept stretching it out. Then I read one too many and every following "police" looked like gibberish... *head explodes*
  • buenit, on 03/12/2008, -0/+33Greetings, Marklar! I am Marklar! This is Marklar. Young Marklar, your Marklars are wise and true.
    • SpaceMonkeyZero, on 03/12/2008, -0/+15As soon as we got outta the bar, she started 'smurfin' me. She started smurfin me right in the smurfin smurfing lot, that is smurfin smurf!
      • BTConan, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1Smurfination, smurfination, and smurf.


        Presentation, inspiration, and fear?
  • GIMLISONOFGLOIN, on 03/12/2008, -6/+1this reminds me of my favorite german sentence...

    Das dass das dass dass das ersatz, dass weiß ich

    i think thats how its spelled... either way, ***** german
  • danielgilbert, on 03/12/2008, -1/+4repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat
  • Jordan117, on 03/12/2008, -0/+9It also works with "fish".

    Fish fish fish fish fish fish fish.

    ...

    Fish!
  • dulymachine, on 03/12/2008, -1/+18I don't think there are any buffalo residing in the Buffalo area.... Buried... Inaccurate
  • BingoPower, on 03/12/2008, -0/+5Hm, I thought this might be what was told to the first white settlers in North America after asking the local native americans what animal they hunt on each day of the week.
  • highwindscloud, on 03/12/2008, -5/+0Stuff like this makes me a tad bit sad for the english language. For being so complex this stupidity makes me lol and feel somewhat ashamed
    • rationalist, on 03/13/2008, -0/+3Thankfully, the actual English language bears little resemblance to whatever it is you are typing.
  • Otto, on 03/12/2008, -0/+8James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher.
    • ThePirateParty, on 03/13/2008, -1/+0Developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developer.
    • Lutremi, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1James ,while John had had "had", had had "had had"; "had had" had had a better effect on the teacher.
  • TomT223, on 03/12/2008, -5/+0crap crap crap crap crap crap crap
  • Jeepy, on 03/12/2008, -0/+19Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich malkovich, malkovich malkovich.

    Only thing that came to mind when I read that.
  • jonborthwick, on 03/12/2008, -1/+7SNAKE! SNAKE!
  • tkilgore04, on 03/12/2008, -3/+2I did not like this one bit.
  • AManWithNoName, on 03/12/2008, -0/+6Recycling is good for the environment, and good for digg. Dugg up!
    • xDynaBlade, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1Recycling actually isn't as good as people say. What do you think powers the recycling truck and the recycling plant? Did you guess fossil fuels?
  • Jenton, on 03/12/2008, -2/+2What a huge repost...
  • Picaroon, on 03/12/2008, -1/+4New York bison that other New York bison beat up often beat up New York bison.
  • Clobbersaurus, on 03/12/2008, -4/+1I just emailed this to everyone I know.

    Spam spam SPAM spam Spam spam spam

    /spam
    • 4degrees, on 03/12/2008, -1/+3spam spam spam spam baked beans and spam.
  • Julirocks, on 03/12/2008, -1/+3http://youtube.com/watch?v=yL_-1d9OSdk

    Chicken chicken chicken chicken
    • protogenxl, on 03/13/2008, -0/+2Chicken chicken CCC chicken, chicken |Øc| ≤ |c2|.
      Chickens chickens chickens chickens. Chicken chicken,
      chickens chicken chicken chicken chckens. Chicken
      chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken ΔØc chicken
      chickens chicken, chicken chickens chickens chickens.
  • hallofween, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1Second Source:
    http://www.hotbuffalo.com/index.php/2008/03/12/buf ...
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