“Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo”

February 26, 2014 — buffalo, linquistics, reed-kellogg, sentence diagramming

… is a grammatically correct sentence in American English.

The sentence’s meaning becomes clearer when it’s understood that it uses three meanings of the word buffalo: the city of Buffalo, New York, the somewhat uncommon verb “to buffalo” (meaning “to bully or intimidate”), as well as the animal buffalo. When the punctuation and grammar are expanded, the sentence could read as follows: “Buffalo buffalo that Buffalo buffalo buffalo, buffalo Buffalo buffalo.” The meaning becomes even clearer when synonyms are used:

“Buffalo bison that other Buffalo bison bully, themselves bully Buffalo bison.”

Annie Senghas is given credit as the inventor of the sentence.