Random explanation thing

(ok idk why i even wrote this feel free to ignore)

flying_eagle46 wrote:

Did anyone know that Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo is actually a grammatically correct sentence? It means New York(or Buffalo) buffalo that other New York buffalo buffalo(or annoy) themselves buffalo(annoy) OTHER New York buffalo.

Huh?

At first glance, this sentence may seem perplexing or even intimidating. But that's merely its deliberately constructed exterior. Using logic and simple rules of grammar, we can decompose the various phrases that comprise this mind-boggling sentence to better understand its meaning.

Let's start by breaking this sentence down into three parts, each marked with a distinct color.

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo

The first phrase is simply “Buffalo buffalo”. If you don't know, Buffalo is a city in New York. Thus, the term “Buffalo buffalo” refers to buffalo (the animal) from Buffalo, New York. So, to further un-buffalo this sentence, we can replace all the capitalized “Buffalo”s with “New York”. This phrase now becomes “New York buffalo” as in buffalo from New York.

Next, we have the phrase “Buffalo buffalo buffalo”, or, per our previous reasoning, “New York buffalo buffalo”. According to Oxford Languages, an alternate definition of “buffalo” is a verb meaning “overawe or intimidate (someone).” We'll shorten this to “annoy”. So now we have the phrase “New York buffalo annoy” as in buffalo from Buffalo, NY are annoying (someone).

Finally, we have “buffalo Buffalo buffalo”. Substitute the meanings from previous steps, and this becomes “annoy New York buffalo”, as in (someone) is annoying buffalo from Buffalo, NY.

Time to put them all together: “New York buffalo New York buffalo annoy annoy New York buffalo.”

Okay, so it still looks kind of weird.

What about this? “Apples, which oranges dislike, dislike bananas.” This one is much easier to understand. It simply means that apples dislike bananas, and oranges dislike apples. This sentence could also be written as “Apples oranges dislike dislike bananas.” It's the same logic, but more vague and hard to understand.

Let's apply that logic to our own situation. The sentence “New York buffalo New York buffalo annoy annoy New York buffalo” can be rewritten as “New York buffalo, which New York buffalo annoy, annoy New York buffalo.”

That's it!

TL;DR: The sentence “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo” is, indeed, grammatically correct. It simply means “New York buffalo, which New York buffalo annoy, annoy New York buffalo.”

*applauds*

Eternity

There they stood, their faces partially obscured by flowing curtains of starry midnight shadow. There they gathered every four months; there they pressed their hands together and vowed together to create something wonderful, something impactful, that would bring smiles to the faces of ordinary people. And over time, it had.

The Main Cabin sat in darkness behind them, graceful boughs delicately interwoven into a chalet hundreds called home. Eight names were inscribed just above the doorframe, each one with a gently distinctive handwriting. Alba. Birdi. Bakie. Honey. Kat. Li. And below them, in lighter, softer lettering, Sini & Icy. Splatters of paint in a hundred colors, representing the diversity in the group of writers, adorned the cedar door. The door was slightly ajar, allowing pale golden light to grace the tender tufts of nearby grass.

A slight shift, and the grass blades shivered, ducking beneath the worn soles of a pair of dark grey boots. Birdi's warm, thoughtful eyes twinkled, a content smile emerging on her lips.

“We really did well this time, didn't we?” she said, laughing quietly.

Honey smiled as well, her twin brown braids flouncing as she raised her head. “It was such an iconic session. We all managed so well, even with the— ahem— technical difficulties.” She made a face, recalling the incident in which the Main Cabin point system had almost entirely broken down, the point values uneditable by everyone but Birdi. But the shy yet amiable girl had remained resilient, and so had her circle of comrades.

“It was more than iconic,” Bakie piped up, bouncing on her feet, “it was AWESOME!” Her shout reverberated in the open field, causing her friends to wince slightly, albeit with fondness. Kat quickly elbowed Bakie, pointing out that the campers would totally appreciate getting woken up in the middle of the night.

For a moment, they were quiet, savoring the tranquility of midnight and the pale moon that shone softly above. The breeze kissed the golden heads of flowers, their petals fluttering jauntily. The flight of a silver butterfly sliced across the landscape.

Alba, Li, and the gHosts would join them soon, and when they did, the eight of them would embark once more on their journey.

~

Inside the Main Cabin, hosts and gHosts alike scurried about, tidying up the remnants of the mess this session had left. Mango juice splattered the once-immaculate walls, trails of the sticky substance dripping down to the floor beneath. The point board, a large whiteboard spanning half the back wall, was smudged with faint marker smears; spare thumbtacks scattered the daily-weekly bulletin board. The infamous Procrastination Table squeezed in its corner was badly scarred with use, jagged scratches intercrossing its faded wooden surface.

“Ugh,” Sini groaned, kneeling beside a rickety chair and peeling a shred of wet notebook paper off one of its legs. “How do those campers make such a mess in just one month? It's disgusting.”

“I second that,” Li agreed, grimacing slightly as she scrubbed sweet golden stains from chalk-hued walls. “Maybe we should've actually enforced the Cabin Guidelines we wrote out at the beginning of camp.”

“Imagine enforcing rules!” Alba remarked cheerfully.

The chatter faded. The only sounds in the room were of Sini's diligent tidying, Li's wiping, Icy's sweeping, and Alba's nimble footsteps as she polished each table.

“Should we call it a day for now?” Icy suggested gently. “We've made some solid progress on the cabin, and I'd hate to keep our friends waiting.”

“All right.” Alba hung her towel on its peg. A sparkle of mischief gleamed in her eyes, and she reached to open a concealed compartment in the wall. Behind the square door, there lay a narrow match and a red tank brimming with gasoline.

"Do you mean… this will involve arson?“ Li asked, eyes widening in dismay.

”Alba,“ Sini sighed, feigning disinterest. ”We talked about this.“

”But…“ Alba's voice trailed off, and she gazed pitifully at her beloved tools. ”But Li, Sini, I've been working so hard for this. I've honed my skills. I'm ready.“

Icy frowned in concern. ”What about the campers?“ she pointed out. ”Won't they get hurt?“

”No worries,“ Alba assured her. ”All the cabins are throughly fireproofed, and the leaders and cos are experienced in this sort of thing. No one will be harmed, I promise.“

The other three (g)hosts exchanged a wary glance, but their unease quickly softened. ”Oh, Alb,“ Sini chuckled fondly. ”All right, you win.

“Tonight will be a night of fire.”

~

The eight of them stood on the beaten path leading from the Main Cabin to the horizon beyond, shrouded in slowly paling ink. The stars smiled softly on their silhouettes.

“So…” Kat's voice was quiet, solemn. “I guess this is goodbye?”

“Only for now,” Bakie said brightly. “Only until November.”

“And we can still talk in the meantime, even if it's not in person,” Li added hopefully.

“Of course.” Birdi smiled gently. “Thank you, all of you. You're some of the best friends I've ever made.”

“No, you!” Seven voices rose at once; they collapsed into giggles.

Though the laughter was fleeting, sweet smiles lingered on every face.

SWC wouldn't be the same without every one of them.

~

With dawn ticking closer, it was time to say goodbye. The lustrous hills glowed from afar; beyond them, the shimmering sliver of blue marked the boundless sea.

Icy and Sini evanesced effortlessly, vanishing into a transparent cloud. Li transformed into a perfectly pink panda and trotted off to her forest of bamboo. Bakie hopped on a carpet of sugary baked goods and soared away, although in her compassion, a few pastries remained for her friends' pleasure. Honey stepped into a glowing teal hyperlink that swiftly sucked her away.

Only three hosts were left, and their exits would be the most dramatic. Kat pulled a narrow ebony wand from her pocket and twirled it thrice. Shimmering fairy wings sprouted from her back, and she fluttered away, a trail of multicolored sparkles in her wake. Birdi thrust her arms to either side and was instantly replaced with a songbird, the navy and jade of her feathers flashing as she glided off.

Alba smiled. She missed her friends already, but she found comfort in the promise of their return. In the meantime, she'd head back home as well. But only after her final task was done.

Slowly, quietly, she poured a trickle of dark grey gasoline across a flat stone in the grass, then struck the tip of her match across the rough surface of the rock. A flame surged upward, its tip flickering wildly, yellow and gold and scarlet dancing in a synchronized ballet. The fire roared; shadows became light, buttery golden drenching the walls of cabins. The inferno crackled and shrieked and overflowed; flames flooded the entirety of camp with their dazzling light. The fire sang its heart-wrenching song, sang it in deafening chords for the world to hear, belting out sorrow and mourning and the greatest of joys.

The camp would burn, charcoal ashes shrouding the land in black. But in time, it would rebuild. The flames were not sad, but rather hopeful.

Where an ember burned and died, extinguished, a spark rose up from the ruins.