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"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." is a grammatically correct sentence used as an example of how homonyms and homophones can be used to create complicated constructs. It has been discussed in literature since 1972 when the sentence was used by William J. Rapaport, an associate professor at the University at Buffalo. It was posted to Linguist List by Rapaport in 1992. It was also featured in Steven Pinker's 1994 book The Language Instinct.

Also known as, really weird buffalo that buffalo.

See also

• James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher
• That that is is that that is not is not is that it it is
• Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den
• Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
• Malo malo malo malo
• List of linguistic example sentences
• Semantic satiation

Notes

1. Rapaport, William J. 22 September 2006. "A History of the Sentence "Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo."". Accessed 23 September 2006. (archived copy)
2. Rapaport, William J. 19 February 1992. "Message 1: Re: 3.154 Parsing Challenges". Accessed 14 September 2006.
3. Pinker, Steven. The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language. William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York, 1994. p. 210

External links

2. Part 2

• "Buffaloing buffalo" at Language Log, 20 January 2005
• Easdown, David. Template:PDF
• The Emory Wheel, Andrew Swerlick What a Herd of Confused Bison from Upstate New York Can Teach Us About Our Difficulties With the English Language

Video clips

• Explanation of the concept on YouTube

• English phrases
• Grammar