Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo.

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Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo. To my knowledge, this is the longest grammatically-correct one-word sentence in the English language (though, in the interest of full disclosure, I add that the sentence can theoretically be infinitely lengthened through the sequential addition of three buffalo at a time).

From whence comes this mouthful of buffalo? Its origins are murky, but many a hypothesis has been suggested:

1. Wasted liberal arts majors with time to kill.

2. The incoherent ramblings of a besotted politico, later explained by his press liaison in an effort to bring order to chaos.

3. A random string of eleven words from Webster's Unabridged -- the beauty of this random sequence being found in the truth that there is no way to distinguish between a truly random coincidence and planned subterfuge by the anti-mathematics organization known as Enemies of Mandelbrot.

But I digress.

The mouthful of buffalo, as it has been coined precisely ninety-nine words ago, is grammatically correct, if difficult to parse. Clicking on the thumbnail at top will launch a view of the entire sentence diagram including parts of speech and a loose translation -- but let me not force such hyperlinking on my fine readers; here is the translation:

New York bison New York bison fool fool New York bison New York bison fool.

Not clear yet? Perhaps another example of similar structure; imagine a group of mean dogs that are hated by men, and who then turn upon themselves:

Mean dogs men hate hate mean dogs men hate.

Very simple, right?



I have taken the liberty of creating a shop from which can be purchased many fine items featuring the unadorned and diagrammed sentences; please visit, won't you? It's called BuffaloBuffalo. Impress your language geek friends, make a good impression on your professor, or win over that liberal arts cutie upon whom you've had your eye lately.