# Apart from "that that", are there other words that ever make sense repeated? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 30, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212 "2012-01-30T18:06:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/21 "2012-01-30T18:53:12Z")
“I don’t just like her. I like like her.” ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/22 "2012-01-30T19:05:21Z")
Biology books are filled to the brim with that kind of thing, albeit in Latin. _Vulpes vulpes_, _Alces alces_, _Axis axis_, _Dama dama_…Well, you get the picture. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/23 "2012-01-30T19:12:25Z")
The only ones that are really like “that that” so far are “had had” and “do do”. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/24 "2012-01-30T19:16:56Z")
> [@brewha](#): > > Are you sure the “while” shouldn’t be “where”? That I could interpret. You could, could you? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/25 "2012-01-30T19:18:42Z")
I have joined War On Want; I want want eliminated from the world. In my drawer I have many candles; heavy ones that don’t burn well and light ones that do; dark ones that shed surprisingly little light for their fuel value, and light ones that are perhaps less decorative but far more efficient. So when I want light, I light light light candles. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/26 "2012-01-30T19:19:49Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > I assume we’re ignoring titles and things that would skirt the use-mention distinction, thusly : > > “Where can I buy the ‘The Hangover’ poster?” But there’s no reason to do that. In these cases, you drop the second article: “Where can I buy the _Hangover_ poster?” “I told the _Times_ reporter to take a flying leap.” “George Harrison was the Beatles’ lead guitarist.” ---
**Author:** ![Reebevoli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@Reebevoli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reebevoli)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/27 "2012-01-30T19:22:07Z")
I remember a quiz question regarding how you could use the word ‘and’ in a legitimate statement seven times consecutively with the statement still making sense. IIRC the gist was that another person had used a sentence with three 'and’s in it and the statement was from someone correcting the first person’s grammar. It went something like “you need to put a comma between and and and and and and and”. Was a while ago and I can’t for the life of me recreate it in my head. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/28 "2012-01-30T19:23:50Z")
Probably a lot of words that are both nouns and verbs (or parts of verb phrases) can be doubled. Might might make right, but will will win in the end. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/29 "2012-01-30T19:25:39Z")
I’ve used ‘was was’ before, but I’d have to find it. It was colloquial though and if it hadn’t been dialogue I’d have rewritten it. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/30 "2012-01-30T19:30:23Z")
There’s the Spanish 101 “¿Como como? Como como como.” (“How do I eat? I eat like I eat.” Which is not exactly _likely_ to be said, but at least plausible, which is more than I can say for the Buffalo ^ n sentences) ---
**Author:** ![hammos1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@hammos1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammos1)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/31 "2012-01-30T19:58:20Z")
> [@Reebevoli](#): > > I remember a quiz question regarding how you could use the word ‘and’ in a legitimate statement seven times consecutively with the statement still making sense. > > IIRC the gist was that another person had used a sentence with three 'and’s in it and the statement was from someone correcting the first person’s grammar. > > It went something like “you need to put a comma between and and and and and and and”. > > Was a while ago and I can’t for the life of me recreate it in my head. The version I heard was the owner of a pub called ‘The Pig and Whistle’ complaining to the man that had painted the pub sign: “The spaces between Pig and And and And and Whistle are not equal”. If you want to extend that to nine, you can just ask yourself if, in the sentence above, the spaces between Pig and and and and and And and And and and and and and Whistle are equal. And so forth. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/32 "2012-01-30T20:02:16Z")
What today is is a new day. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/33 "2012-01-30T20:03:12Z")
> [@Silver\_Tyger](#): > > I’ve used ‘was was’ before, but I’d have to find it. It was colloquial though and if it hadn’t been dialogue I’d have rewritten it. Verbs of motion in English until recently - as French does to this day - used the verb _to be_ as the auxiliary in the perfect tenses, instead of _to have_. So in present usage the auxiliary for the pluperfect is _had_, but formerly it was _was_. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/34 "2012-01-30T20:03:31Z")
Doctor Who, who is a time lord, travels in his Tardis. I saw the man man the lifeboat. I’m talking about Wonder Woman, woman. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/35 "2012-01-30T20:04:09Z")
> [@Silver\_Tyger](#): > > I’ve used ‘was was’ before, but I’d have to find it. In _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_, the king of Swamp Castle says at one point, “When I started here, all there was was swamp!” ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/36 "2012-01-30T20:05:02Z")
> [@Reebevoli](#): > > I remember a quiz question regarding how you could use the word ‘and’ in a legitimate statement seven times consecutively with the statement still making sense. > > IIRC the gist was that another person had used a sentence with three 'and’s in it and the statement was from someone correcting the first person’s grammar. > > It went something like “you need to put a comma between and and and and and and and”. > > Was a while ago and I can’t for the life of me recreate it in my head. Wouldn’t the sentence ‘I want to put two hyphens between the words Pig and And, and And and Whistle in my Pig-And-Whistle sign’ have been clearer if quotation marks had been placed before Pig, and between Pig and and, and and and And, and And and and, and and and And, and And and and, and and and Whistle, and after Whistle? ---
**Author:** ![hammos1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@hammos1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammos1)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/37 "2012-01-30T20:06:20Z")
I see that I should have had twenty-one ands in my last sentence, rather than nine. Not enough time on my ands, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/38 "2012-01-30T20:08:51Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I was reminded by reading this sentence: “The two men have so much to say to each other\*\*\* that that \*\*\*initial encounter turns into a 13-hour conversation.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it would make more grammatical sense by substituting ‘their’ for the second ‘that’: “The two men have so much to say to each other that **their** initial encounter turns into a 13-hour conversation.” Or even: “The two men **had** so much to say to each other that **their** initial encounter **turned** into a 13-hour conversation.” (Changed words in bold) I realize this doesn’t help with the question; it just seems to me the example sentence is sloppy. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/39 "2012-01-30T20:11:11Z")
> [@hammos1](#): > > I see that I should have had twenty-one ands in my last sentence, rather than nine. Not enough time on my ands, apparently. I’m washing my ands of this thread and leaving it alone from here on out. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/40 "2012-01-30T20:14:02Z")
I slammed my finger in my filing cabinet last week, and muttered “F **k f** k f **k F** K f **k f** k!” It would have made perfect sense to anyone listening. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212.md?page=3)