That, that that that ....

My parents told me of an interesting radio piece they'd heard on a recent drive. A challenge was issued to listeners to create a sentence containing five 'thats' in a row.

Unable to come up with a sentence themselves, they put the challenge to me. I too failed.

The winning sentence?
It is true that: that that, that that man used in that sentence, is wrong.
This sentence, as well as being absurd, can be written in a much cleaner manner. A better way of defining the words would be, 'It is true that the 'that', which that man used in that sentence, is wrong.' 

To carry this topic on even further, I found an example on the internet of a sentence with EIGHT 'thats' in a row!!
"I already told you that: that that "that" (that "that" that that teacher used) was grammatically correct"

How about a sentence containing five 'ands' in a row?

A typesetter was setting type for an advertisement for an inn called The Horse And Cart. His client was proofing the ad. and said;
There is too much spacing between Horse and And, and And and Cart.

Parlez Vous Anglais?

Recently I was asked by a native French speaker how the English language conveys emotion. This got me thinking - why is it that the French language sounds so romantic; Cantonese and Mandarin so angry; and German so authoritative?  I put it down to two factors: expressive intonation and exaggerated enunciation.

Take as an example the French phrase 'Je voudrais', meaning 'I would like'. Whereas an English speaker would pronounce a straight 'Je' as in 'Jerry', the French add an additional letter between the 'J' and the 'e', so the word now sounds like 'Jhe'. 'Voudrais' in turn is broken into two syllables, 'vou' and 'drais', and each syllable is enunciated equally: 'vooooooo' and 'draaaaaai'. The result is a more expressive and fluid, rhythmic phrase.

So what about English?

'Strine', also known as the manner in which Australians butcher the Queen's English, is characteristically fast. Australians do not enunciate. 'How is it going?' turns into 'Howzitgoin?', said in one breath with little emotion. We do not pronounce individual letters nor offer much in terms of intonation. One may argue that the laid-back nature of the Australian language reflects the laissez-faire attitude of Australians in general, just as the idiolect of a French speaker reflects the passion of the French.

I'm starting to make a connection here - is it not the words that are spoken, but more how the words are spoken? Meaning the culture and dynamic of the speaker is the main influence in the evocation of emotion through language?

Were we to turn our attention to the written word, one sees that it is not the language nor individual words that influence emotion, but the thoughts behind the words. Take as an example a few of my favourite pieces of English:

"Those three words; I've said too much; yet not enough"
This is a line from the song 'Chasing Cars' by Snow Patrol, and to me is the most powerful and thought-provoking lyric ever written. There is no complexity - no fancy words; almost all mono-syllabic. Yet somehow, in one brief phase, the band manages to sum up the complexities of saying 'I love you'.

"Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!/ For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."
Will there ever be a piece of literature more romantic than William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet?

"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight"
Elizabeth Barrett Browning conveys the 'breadth and depth' of an encompassing love that has withstood the changes of language over centuries.