Punctuation challenge

[12oclocktales]

Seeing there are quite a few grammar threads on this forum, I thought the following might be of some interest. I believe it first appeared in an early Ripley’s Believe It or Not newspaper column.

Punctuate the following sentence:

That that is is that that is not is not but that that is not is not that that is nor is that that is that that is not.


Punctuate it correctly and it will make sense. Don’t add or subtract words and don’t change the order.
I have a feeling this will be a piece of cake for some of you language buffs out there.
I’ll stick around for a bit and use the Quote-Reply mechanism to announce the first correct response.

 

[StillStunned]

That that is is that that is. Not is not. But that that is not is not that that is, nor is that that is that that is not.

Being very careful, of course, not to use commas to indicate pauses where they would separate noun and verb.

 

[12oclocktales]

That that is is that that is. Not is not. But that that is not is not that that is, nor is that that is that that is not.

Being very careful, of course, not to use commas to indicate pauses where they would separate noun and verb.

Sorry, no. Perhaps I should have made it clearer that it's ONE sentence, not several short ones.

 

[StillStunned]

Meh, then I'm out. Reminds me too much of my day job.

 

[onehitwanda]

That that is is that that is not is not but that that is not is not that that is nor is that that is that that is not.

That that is is that that is not not, but that that is not is not that that is, nor is that that is that that is not.

or, simplistically:

A = !!A, !A ≠ A, A ≠ !A

 

[Altissimus]

That that is is that that is not is not but that that is not is not that that is nor is that that is that that is not.

One sentence, you say? Hmm.

That that is, is; that that is not is, not; but that, that is not, is not that; that is, nor is that that is, that that is not.

(Edited as I missed a 'that')

 

[Winter_Fare]

That that is is that that is not; is not, but that that is not, is not that that is: nor is that that is, that that is not.

 

[Euphony]

I see where this is heading...

Madness.

 

[MillieDynamite]

That that is is that that is not is not but that that is not is not that that is nor is that that is that that is not. This is correct, according to Gamarly.

According to ProWriting Aid it's a hopeless mess.

 

[12oclocktales]

That that is is that that is not is not but that that is not is not that that is nor is that that is that that is not. This is correct, according to Gamarly.

According to ProWriting Aid it's a hopeless mess.

I think you might mean Grammarly, and if they think that's correct, they must be joking.
It might look like a mess to ProWriting, but once you see done correctly, it's not much of a mess at all.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Yes, I misspelled it. ProWriting Aid doesn't like repeated words, and it doesn't like the same words used back to back, even with proper punctuation, whatever that is or is not. It rates the sentence as poor structure, too many repeated words, and so forth and so on. Grammarly allows you to add commons here and there and likes them, others, not so much. But in the end, it's a gobbledegook sentence. I'd never write that in a story. If it's machine code, it doesn't require punctuation but symbols. If it is a statement of fact, we need a definition of what 'that' is. Is it that thing over there or this thing over here? It isn't something a person would say, and why would I write it in a descriptive part?

I realize this is an exercise intended to be fun. It wasn't all that fun for me. I didn't have my dyslexia glass on when I first looked at it. The words turned in a tumble of letters that made no sense. Once I put them on, the meaning of the thing wasn't clear, at least not to me.

I think you might mean Grammarly, and if they think that's correct, they must be joking.
It might look like a mess to ProWriting, but once you see done correctly, it's not much of a mess at all.

 

[12oclocktales]

Yes, I misspelled it. ProWriting Aid doesn't like repeated words, and it doesn't like the same words used back to back, even with proper punctuation, whatever that is or is not. It rates the sentence as poor structure, too many repeated words, and so forth and so on. Grammarly allows you to add commons here and there and likes them, others, not so much. But in the end, it's a gobbledegook sentence. I'd never write that in a story. If it's machine code, it doesn't require punctuation but symbols. If it is a statement of fact, we need a definition of what 'that' is. Is it that thing over there or this thing over here? It isn't something a person would say, and why would I write it in a descriptive part?

I realize this is an exercise intended to be fun. It wasn't all that fun for me. I didn't have my dyslexia glass on when I first looked at it. The words turned in a tumble of letters that made no sense. Once I put them, the meaning of the thing wasn't clear. At least not to me.

Hey, that's okay. Do you know how long it took me to copy the sentence in the opening post, afraid I'd mess it up? About 20 minutes. I must have read it a hundred times, even counting the words so they'd be the same.

 

[Djmac1031]

Punctuate the following sentence:

That that is is that that is not is not but that that is not is not that that is nor is that that is that that is not.

Fuck that.

(Meh, close enough.)

 

[Euphony]

Fuck that.

(Meh, close enough.)

Irrefutable proof you are correct.

 

[12oclocktales]

Fuck that.

(Meh, close enough.)

Or not, as the last word seems to indicate.

 

[XerXesXu]

‘That, that is’, is ‘That’, ‘That is not’, is not; but, that ‘That is not,’ is not ‘That, that is’, nor is ‘That, that is’, that, ‘That is not.’

 

[12oclocktales]

"That, that is," is that, "that is not," is not, but that, "that is not," is not, "that," that is, nor is that, "that is that," that is not.

I just woke up and my brain hurts now. Thanks.

Sorry, didn't mean to cause pain. Quotes aren't necessary, by the way.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Are those air quotes?

Quotes are never necessary, fun to use, though.

 

[Razzyricho]

"That, that is," is that, "that is not," is not, but that, "that is not," is not, "that," that is, nor is that, "that is that," that is not.

I just woke up and my brain hurts now. Thanks.

Remove the quotes and this reads correctly to me…in my opinion

 

[MillieDynamite]

Um, like a belt in Jo's hands, Beats Me.

How else was I supposed to make the whole thing come off as sarcastic?

 

[12oclocktales]

Remove the quotes and this reads correctly to me…in my opinion

No opinions allowed or else everything looks great. Everything shouldn't look as if e.e. cummings wrote it.

 

[12oclocktales]

Okay, maybe it's time for a hint. There are 8 commas and 3 semicolons, that's it.

 

[XerXesXu]

Sorry, didn't mean to cause pain. Quotes aren't necessary, by the way.

Do you think your solution, without quotes, will be more or less clearly punctuated?

 

[XerXesXu]

Okay, maybe it's time for a hint. There are 8 commas and 3 semicolons, that's it.

Why do you think that there's only one solution? The time for hints would be in your original post, wouldn't it?

 

[12oclocktales]

Why do you think that there's only one solution? The time for hints would be in your original post, wouldn't it?

Only one solution was given when the item first appeared.