---
title: Josh: «I'm dead, the ladies said "Idiot!" ever so politely.» (I'm de… — Just So Stories, How the First Letter… · tree and pragmatics
description: Josh: «I'm dead, the ladies said "Idiot!" ever so politely.» (I'm dead = that's so funny) Why is it a joke? Test 14 · ★ of lesson 86 «Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 3: «a great invention» and the road on Merrow Down» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dep
---

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# Test 14 · ★ · Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 3:…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Josh: «I'm dead, the ladies said "Idiot!" ever so politely.» (I'm dead = that's so funny) Why is it a joke?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Josh, ladies, I, that, Idiot · **What happens:** be, say · **To what, where:** Idiot, joke · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 14 · ★ of lesson 86 «Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 3: «a great invention» and the road on Merrow Down» 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/86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention/#t14).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Josh: «I'm dead, the ladies said "Idiot!" ever so politely.»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t14:1
# text = Josh: «I'm dead, the ladies said "Idiot!" ever so politely.»
1	Josh	Josh	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	6	punct	_	_
3	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	'm	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	ladies	lady	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
10	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
11	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	Idiot	idiot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
15	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	16	advmod	_	_
16	so	so	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	politely	politely	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | present | Josh |  |  |  |  | dead *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | past | the ladies | Idiot |  |  |  | politely *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent idiot=Topic |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* (I'm dead = that's so funny) Why is it a joke?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t14:2
# text = (I'm dead = that's so funny) Why is it a joke?
1	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	'm	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	=	=	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	funny	funny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	4	punct	_	_
11	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	15	advmod	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	joke	joke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | I |  |  |  |  | dead *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | that |  |  |  |  | funny *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **is a** | present | Idiot | a joke |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«Idiot» means husband

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t14:o1:1
# text = «Idiot» means husband
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Idiot	idiot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	husband	husband	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Idiot | husband |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent husband=Topic |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Calling someone «Idiot!» is not polite at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t14:o2:1
# text = Calling someone «Idiot!» is not polite at all
1	Calling	call	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	csubj	_	_
2	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	1	obj	_	_
3	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	Idiot	idiot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	1	punct	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	polite	polite	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
10	at	at	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** | gerund |  |  | someone |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent someone=Recipient |
| 2 | **not** **is** | present | Calling |  |  | all |  | polite *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They really were polite

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t14:o3:1
# text = They really were polite
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	really	really	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	polite	polite	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | They |  |  |  |  | polite *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were talking to the beavers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t14:o4:1
# text = They were talking to the beavers
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	talking	talk	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	beavers	beaver	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **talk** | past · progressive | They |  |  |  |  | to the beavers | vn talk-37.5 «NP V PP.co-agent»: agent=Agent to beaver=Co-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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Just So Stories, How the First Letter…, test 13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention/t13/)
- next →: [Just So Stories, How the First Letter…, test 15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention/t15/)
- ↑ back to [Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 3: «a great invention» and the road on Merrow Down](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention/)