James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher

"James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher"は、多義語の語彙的曖昧性を巧みに表現した英文である。適切な句読点の位置を探し当て、文の意味を通らせる言葉遊びに使われる3802 - Operator Jumble。

哲学者のハンス・ライヘンバッハは、1947年、対象言語とメタ言語という異なるレベルの言語を説明するために "John where Jack …" の形でこの文を使っているReichenbach, Hans (1947) Elements of symbolic logic. London: Collier-MacMillan. Exercise 3-4, p.405; solution p.417.。 解釈 引用符と句読点を打つことにより、この文の理解は次のように簡単になる。

語順や単語を少し変えると、意味はさらに捉えやすくなる。

同じようなことは"Fish and chips"(フィッシュ・アンド・チップス)の単語同士が等間隔に置かれていないと指摘するときにもいえる。

脚注

関連項目 Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo That that is is that that is not is not is that it it is 子子子子子子子子子子子子 袋小路文