# 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:** 5
**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 31, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/81 "2012-01-31T02:50:29Z")
> [@Darwins\_Finch](#): > > Random trivia: such genus-species pairs are known as _tautonyms_. We are technically a subspecies of \*homo sapiens _known as_homo sapiens \*_sapiens_. The other subspecies are extinct. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/82 "2012-01-31T03:02:44Z")
> [@SmartAlecCat](#): > > He got a boo boo. There, there. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/83 "2012-01-31T04:08:34Z")
> [@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. If you want to get colloquial, there’s always Al Capp’s Li’l Abner. Mammy Yokum, discussing the concept of marriage to Abner (shortly after he married Daisy Mae): [QUOTE=Mammy Yokum] Try an unnerstan, son. It don’t matter what Fosdick done done, or what Fosdick didn’t done done. Yo is hopelessly, irreversibly married!" [/quote] I used to have to write a weekly summary at work, of main things I had accomplished each week. I always titled it “What I done done this week”. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/84 "2012-01-31T04:13:43Z")
If I had had moyamoya and pseudopseudohypoparathyoidism before B1 deficient bonbons gave her her beriberi, I’d have said “que sera sera” instead of waving bye bye while speeding chop chop to the choo choo, upon which I got a boo boo on my wee wee while dancing the cha cha cha, ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/85 "2012-01-31T04:14:14Z")
Anthony Burgess famously wrote these two sentences: She breathed on him (though a young lady should not eat, because of the known redolence of onions, onions) onions. ‘Onions,’ said Hogg. From _Enderby Outside_. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/86 "2012-01-31T05:16:54Z")
If you jump off a cliff or from an airplane, you’d fall at 32 feet per second per second. > [@Malacandra](#): > > I have joined War On Want; I want want eliminated from the world. As is your wont. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/87 "2012-01-31T05:29:05Z")
Say digits in 2^48. Increase exponent at your leisure. A correct and meaningful statement in English. OK, add a verb. “the correct result is…” Infinity or Pi or other irrationals get extra credit. Doesn’t this trump all? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/88 "2012-01-31T06:05:01Z")
> [@spikebrennan](#): > > And in Chinese, there’s the magnificent > [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den) > > « Shī Shì shí shī shǐ » > Shíshì shīshì Shī Shì, shì shī, shì shí shí shī. > Shì shíshí shì shì shì shī. > Shí shí, shì shí shī shì shì. > Shì shí, shì Shī Shì shì shì. > Shì shì shì shí shī, shì shǐ shì, shǐ shì shí shī shìshì. > Shì shí shì shí shī shī, shì shíshì. > Shíshì shī, Shì shǐ shì shì shíshì. > Shíshì shì, Shì shǐ shì shí shì shí shī. > Shí shí, shǐ shí shì shí shī, shí shí shí shī shī. > Shì shì shì shì. > > Which means: > > « Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den » > In a stone den was a poet called Shi, who was a lion addict, and had resolved to eat ten lions. > He often went to the market to look for lions. > At ten o’clock, ten lions had just arrived at the market. > At that time, Shi had just arrived at the market. > He saw those ten lions, and using his trusty arrows, caused the ten lions to die. > He brought the corpses of the ten lions to the stone den. > The stone den was damp. He asked his servants to wipe it. > After the stone den was wiped, he tried to eat those ten lions. > When he ate, he realized that these ten lions were in fact ten stone lion corpses. > Try to explain this matter. Someone at Wiki is having you on. Show the characters or you got nothin’. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/89 "2012-01-31T06:51:50Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Someone at Wiki is having you on. Show the characters or you got nothin’. Well, you can click on the Wikipedia link and get all that information. And much more. Apparently, [this is the text being read aloud](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWFNhuDQ0Tc), but I know absolutely nothing of Mandarin or any other Asian languages. ---
**Author:** ![BACI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@BACI](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BACI)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/90 "2012-01-31T07:54:25Z")
There’s a suburb around these parts, getting towards the hills, called Upwey. It inspired a song, delightfully entitled, “Way, Way Up Upwey Way” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/91 "2012-01-31T09:44:16Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > The only ones that are really like “that that” so far are “had had” and “do do”. Everything else is a no-no. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/92 "2012-01-31T09:46:08Z")
> [@SeldomSeen](#): > > It depends on what the definition of “is” is. Oh, come come. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/93 "2012-01-31T09:54:18Z")
> [@Normal\_Phase](#): > > There’s no there there. My, my, how she-she. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/94 "2012-01-31T15:01:20Z")
> [@BACI](#): > > There’s a suburb around these parts, getting towards the hills, called Upwey. > > It inspired a song, delightfully entitled, “Way, Way Up Upwey Way” Is it near Walla Walla? ---
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/95 "2012-01-31T15:29:13Z")
As a child it was; Please please please pretty please, etc. As a Firearms Instructor; CEASE! CEASE! CEASE! CEASE! to replace the old oxy-moron Cease-Fire. ---
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/96 "2012-01-31T15:32:27Z")
> [@Gbro](#): > > As a child it was; > Please please please pretty please, etc. > > As a Firearms Instructor; > CEASE! CEASE! CEASE! CEASE! > to replace the old oxy-moron Cease-Fire. And when a guy jumped out in front of my daughter with a shotgun and a witness called it in the dispatcher reported that when he asked about the gun all he got from the witness was GUN\ **Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/97 "2012-01-31T15:45:14Z") > [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Say digits in 2^48. Increase exponent at your leisure. A correct and meaningful statement in English. OK, add a verb. “the correct result is…” Infinity or Pi or other irrationals get extra credit. > > Doesn’t this trump all? Ok, I’ll bite… _ **Huh???** _ ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/98 "2012-01-31T15:50:34Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > 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) Cool. Only works if you omit the accents, though. Back in the 1990s, when online automated translation was just getting started, I tried “¿Como estas?”, and the reply was “Do I eat these?”. Perfect translation (with “these” referring to some feminine noun that, in the context of the particular conversation, doesn’t need to be specified by the speaker), since I’d forgotten to inlcude accents on both words! ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/99 "2012-01-31T16:07:55Z")
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3701](http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3701) ---
**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 31, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212/100 "2012-01-31T16:08:42Z")
“There, there,” Yossarian said. “There, there.” “I’m cold. I’m cold.” “There, there. There, there.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apart-from-that-that-are-there-other-words-that-ever-make-sense-repeated/611212.md?page=6)