Gengulphus wrote:GrahamPlatt wrote:quelquod wrote:And one from my schooldays:
Tom, where Jack had had had had had had had; had had had had the teacher’s approval.
Tom, where Jack had had “had”, had had “had had”; “had had” had had the teacher’s approval.
It could equally well be:
Tom, where Jack had had “had had”, had had “had”; “had had” had had the teacher’s approval.
And it's occurred to me that that ambiguity spawns:
Tom, where Jack 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” had had the teacher’s approval.
That sentence does suggest that the teacher wasn't being fair to Tom, of course, as both of them should have had the teacher's approval...
Also, one might produce unboundedly long sequences of the word 'had' by repeating that spawning process, if one can find ways to indicate the multiple levels of quoting needed.
Gengulphus