6 March 2014
buffalo
So, everyone knows the meaning of this word, yes? Then I’ll lead with the example sentence as I’m sure it will make perfect sense to you:
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
This is not a shopping list of buffalo, but a grammatically correct sentence which has obvious meaning. It was written by William J. Rapaport (just so he’s not left out of the equation). When you think you understand the sentence, or if you’re too excited or lazy to work it out yourself, read on. The sentence means:
Buffalo from Buffalo (New York) who are bullied by other buffalo, themselves bully buffalo.
Do you still feel confident in your understanding of the definition of buffalo?
buffalo
[buhf-uh-loh]
noun, plural buf·fa·loes, buf·fa·los ( especially collectively ) buf·fa·lo.
1. any of several large wild oxen of the family Bovidae. Compare bison, Cape buffalo, water buffalo.
2. buffalo robe.
3. a buffalofish.
4. a shuffling tap-dance step.
verb (used with object), buf·fa·loed, buf·fa·lo·ing. Informal.
5. to puzzle or baffle; confuse; mystify: He was buffaloed by the problem.
6. to impress or intimidate by a display of power, importance, bully, etc.: The older boys buffaloed him.
Origin:
1535–45, Americanism; earlier bufalo < Portuguese (now bufaro ) < Late Latin būfalus, variant of Latin būbalus bubal
Not to labour the point, but how about this example using a couple of more of the definitions listed above:
Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo.
(Bullied confused tapdancing buffalo from Buffalo, New York, who are bullied by confused tap-dancing buffalo also bully other confused tap-dancing buffalo from Buffalo).
Yes, I know … it’s all bull!
Anagram
luff boa
a fob flu
flob oaf
Today’s aphorism
Persons appear to us according to the light we throw upon them from our own minds.
– Laura Ingalls Wilder, novelist (1867-1957), author of ‘Little House on the Prairie’ and others in the ‘Little House’ series.
On this day
6 March 1836 – death of Davy Crocket, American frontiersman, King of the Wild Frontier. Davy Crockett shot his fair share of buffalo.
6 March 1899 – aspirin is patented in Germany by Friedrich Bayer and Co. It is the brand name for acetylsalicylic acid, which included an extract from the bark of the willow tree. (Just as well, I’ve got a headache from the Buffalo sentences).
6 March 2012 – A three-year old McNuggett shaped like George Washington sells for $8,100 on eBay by a woman in Nebraska. I wonder if she lived in Buffalo County, Nebraska?