---
title: honestly, what does "edgewise" even mean in "get a word in edgewise"? — The Jungle Book, Her Majesty's Servant… · tree and pragmatics
description: honestly, what does "edgewise" even mean in "get a word in edgewise"? Test 12 · ★ of lesson 630 «The Jungle Book, Her Majesty's Servants, part 31: the army animals talk about being scared and about fighting» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the
---

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# Test 12 · ★ · The Jungle Book, Her Majesty's Servants, part 31: the army…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
honestly, what does "edgewise" even mean in "get a word in edgewise"?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** do, mean, get · **To what, where:** word, edgewise · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 12 · ★ of lesson 630 «The Jungle Book, Her Majesty's Servants, part 31: the army animals talk about being scared and about fighting» of the books course of Mova's primary school. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/630-pg236-part31/#t12).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:630-pg236-part31:t12:1
# text = honestly, what does "edgewise" even mean in "get a word in edgewise"?
1	honestly	honestly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	nsubj	_	_
4	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	edgewise	edgewise	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
8	even	even	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	mean	mean	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
10	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
11	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	ccomp	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	edgewise	edgewise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present |  |  |  |  |  | edgewise, honestly *property* | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **get** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | a word |  | edgewise |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer word=Stimulus |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a way of standing at the edge of a crowd to be heard by the whole group of people at once

<!-- fold The tree, 21 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:630-pg236-part31:t12:o1:1
# text = a way of standing at the edge of a crowd to be heard by the whole group of people at once
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
4	standing	stand	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	edge	edge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	crowd	crowd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
12	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	heard	hear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	acl	_	_
14	by	by	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	group	group	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	nmod	_	_
20	at	at	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand** | gerund | a way *not said here* |  |  | the edge of a crowd |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent at edge=Location |
| 2 | **hear** | to-infinitive · passive | the whole group of people |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
squeezing your word in while others keep talking

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:630-pg236-part31:t12:o2:1
# text = squeezing your word in while others keep talking
1	squeezing	squeeze	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	RP	_	1	compound:prt	_	_
5	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	others	other	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	keep	keep	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
8	talking	talk	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **squeeze in** | gerund |  | your word |  |  |  |  | vn push-12-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Theme |
| 2 | **keep** | present | others |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **talk** | gerund | others *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **word** |  | your |  |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
speaking when the others have stopped talking

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:630-pg236-part31:t12:o3:1
# text = speaking when the others have stopped talking
1	speaking	speak	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	nsubj	_	_
2	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	others	other	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
5	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	stopped	stop	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
7	talking	talk	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **stop** | present · perfect |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **talk** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
squeezing your word in while others keep talking, even when they are loud and do not pause

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:630-pg236-part31:t12:o4:1
# text = squeezing your word in while others keep talking, even when they are loud and do not pause
1	squeezing	squeeze	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	RP	_	1	compound:prt	_	_
5	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	others	other	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	keep	keep	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
8	talking	talk	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
10	even	even	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
11	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	14	advmod	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
13	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
14	loud	loud	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	advcl	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
16	do	do	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	aux	_	_
17	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	18	advmod	_	_
18	pause	pause	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **squeeze in** | gerund |  | your word |  |  |  |  | vn push-12-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Theme |
| 2 | **keep** | present | others |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **talk** | gerund | others *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is** | present | others *= other* |  |  |  |  | loud *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **not** **pause** | infinitive · do-support | others *= other* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn linger-53.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **word** |  | your |  |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

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**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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