Monday, January 31, 2011

Bufff* (for Buffalo, etc.)

You think schoolyard bullies and mean girls are bad? Well, did you know Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo? It's true! Or, as Wikipedia explains: "The sentence when parsed reads as a claim that bison who are intimidated by bison are intimidating to bison (at least in the city of Buffalo, impliedly Buffalo, NY)." In other words: Bison from Buffalo (Buffalo buffalo) bison from Buffalo (Buffalo buffalo) intimidate (buffalo) intimidate (buffalo) bison from Buffalo (Buffalo buffalo). What goes around comes around, kiddos! Anyway, try writing that on the blackboard one hundred times. Also, just because it's cool, check out this animated photograph of galloping bison by Eadweard Muybridge. Today's typo is Bufff* (for Buffalo, or perhaps another word). It was found twice in OhioLINK and 52 times in WorldCat.

("Hunting bison in the USA," 1844, from Wikimedia Commons.)

Carol Reid

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