Talk:Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo

American English

It is stated in the lede that this sentence is grammatically correct "in American English." However, it is a perfectly valid sentence in all English dialects. Please amend. 2A02:6B61:214E:0:2C2A:6D5F:6139:A069 (talk) 17:58, 16 July 2020 (UTC)

The word "buffalo" is American. Other dialects generally use "bison," I believe 18:13, 16 July 2020 (UTC)

We all know what a buffalo is and since they're only native to North America (disregarding the introduced European species), the term is common elsewhere. Regards, an Englishman. VEO^onefive 10:22, 28 November 2020 (UTC)

IP 2A02 is quite correct; it is valid in every variety of English. I've altered the lead to suit. Mathglot (talk) 10:42, 28 November 2020 (UTC)

The sentence is nonsensical in British English, not because buffalo is a regional term for bison, but because 'to buffalo' has no meaning rather than meaning 'to bully'. --Ef80 (talk) 22:34, 8 October 2022 (UTC)

Agreed, and not only that, in British English, you would need a "that" or "which" after the first two Buffalos, for it to make any sense. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rcclh (talk • contribs) 16:53, 13 November 2022 (UTC)

Both Ef80's comment and Rcclh's comment are mistaken. Regarding the former, see this ngrams chart limited to sources from British English books. Not only is buffalo used as a noun in British English, it occurs more frequently than bison, and has done continuously for the last two centuries. For the latter, read about reduced relative clause in any British English grammar you choose. Mathglot (talk) 12:20, 14 January 2023 (UTC)

I think you misinterpreted Ef80's comment. They were pointing out that buffalo is not used as a verb in British English. For example, the OED lists it as North American, Collins Dictionary lists it as a US and Canadian informal usage, and Cambridge Dictionary does not list it at all. I agree that the noun is used in British English, but I would caution that the Google ngrams corpora are notoriously noisy, for example, they seem to think that the spellings "color" and "analyze" are almost as common in British English as "colour" and "analyse". Personally, I think the article should mention that "to buffalo" is a regional term, and (to my understanding) an obscure one at that. 82.10.240.153 (talk) 01:05, 19 January 2024 (UTC)

Thanks for your comment. I don't believe that I misinterpreted Ef80's comment; I just think it's mistaken. Use of buffalo as a verb may be more common in the US than in the UK (ngrams link), but there are also more books published in the US. To get a fairer comparison of verb usage, we can take a ratio of use as a verb to use as a noun in both countries, and compare them; it turns out, they are rather similar. So, I don't buy the theory that it is not used as a verb in the UK, at least, not if we restrict the domain to printed books. I'm willing to believe it's a literary word that one wouldn't hear much over a pint in the local pub, but that's probably true in the U.S. as well. Mathglot (talk) 04:36, 20 January 2024 (UTC)

Not true. American Buffalo are not true buffalo, unlike African Buffalo which are. This is just one example of American English misappropriation of terms. e.g., most "cedar" trees are cyprus and robins are thrushes. 71.69.181.153 (talk) 14:46, 29 August 2023 (UTC)

It is use,not ‘misappropriation’. A thing is what you call it. The ‘bison’ distinction is useful, outside North America tho. 2A00:23C7:E287:1901:E5C3:F56D:8023:3123 (talk) 10:07, 5 October 2023 (UTC)

This is a language syntax problem, and questions of whether they are buffalo or bison or hummingbirds or pterodactyls is entirely irrelevant, as is any question of "misappropriation". The topic here is grammar and syntax, not lexical items. Mathglot (talk) 04:36, 20 January 2024 (UTC)

Exclusion of that/which

Even when deobfuscated like "Buffalo bison Buffalo bison bully bully Buffalo bison" this sentence still feels invalid to me. I asked ChatGPT for some examples of leaving out that/which and it gave these:

1. "The book you're reading looks interesting." (instead of "The book that you're reading looks interesting.")
2. "I don't like the clothes she's wearing." (instead of "I don't like the clothes that she's wearing.")
3. "The man I saw yesterday was my old teacher." (instead of "The man that I saw yesterday was my old teacher.")
4. "There's someone here wants to see you." (instead of "There's someone here that wants to see you.") This example is more informal and may not be considered correct in formal writing.

They all make perfect sense to me in comparison. Herteby (talk) 18:49, 29 June 2023 (UTC)

My personal philosophy: If the meaning's clear, "less is more". – AndyFielding (talk) 14:20, 17 October 2023 (UTC)

"Buffalonian bison that other Buffalonian bison bully also bully Buffalonian bison" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect Buffalonian bison that other Buffalonian bison bully also bully Buffalonian bison has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2024 January 24 § Buffalonian bison that other Buffalonian bison bully also bully Buffalonian bison until a consensus is reached. Happy Editing--IAmChaos 04:09, 24 January 2024 (UTC)

I miss the pictures

This article once had images of a buffalo (bison) and of Buffalo (city in NY state). These seemed appropriate for a light-hearted, almost jokey, topic. They've gone, and instead there's a parse tree (well, ok) and a Reed–Kellogg diagram (incomprehensible). These are sad times. Maproom (talk) 23:20, 19 March 2024 (UTC)

Sentence

If it is a sentence, shouldn't it have a full stop (period) at the end? --Jameboy (talk) 23:03, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

@Jameboy Hi, just noticed this, so here's a super-late reply - per MOS:AT (second to last item): The final character should not be punctuation unless it is an inseparable part of a name (Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) or an abbreviation (Inverness City F.C.), or when a closing round bracket or quotation mark is required (John Palmer (1814 schooner)). - so while you are correct, we would not include the period in the article's title itsef. ASUKITE 15:03, 1 August 2024 (UTC)

I see, thanks. --Jameboy (talk) 15:11, 1 August 2024 (UTC)