I guess you’re familiar with the famous grammatically correct sentence…
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
If not, you could read up on it via its Wikipedia entry. Basically it translates that various buffalo [the animal] from Buffalo [the city] buffalo [the verb] various other buffalo from Buffalo. Fun!
Got to wondering whether I could make one, too. I think I did!
Major major Major Major Major Major major major Major Major Major Major.
It breaks down like this:
Major — As in, of voting age.
major — As in, enthusiastic — e.g., “I am a major fan of eggplant.”
Major Major Major Major — A character in Joseph Heller’s Catch 22; used here as an archetype.
major — As in, the military rank (between captain and colonel, apparently).
major — As in, one’s field of study.
Major Major Major Major — As in, an individual of major rank.
Put it all together, and you get a Major who had majored in majoring (presumably at West Point or whatever), who is of voting age, and who is quite enthusiastically of the Heller character’s type (in point of fact so enthusiastically of the type that he’s even legally changed his name to match the character’s).
It works, right? I think it works!
Gets even more fun when we combine ’em:
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo major major Major Major Major Major major major Major Major Major Major buffalos.
Friggin’ twenty-one word sentence, comprised of two different words (or, let’s say two-and-a-half, considering the last word), no punctuation save the period…and I’m pretty damned sure it works!
The moral of the story: next time somebody insists that sentences are not fun, you turn around and tell them to fuck right off.