---
title: Ascertain the referent of the expression "Old Nick" as employed in t… — Soft words for hard things: drinking a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the referent of the expression "Old Nick" as employed in traditional British narrative. Exam question 3 of lesson 31 «Soft words for hard things: drinking and drugs and religion and fate» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the ques
---

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# Exam question 3 · Soft words for hard things: drinking and drugs and religio…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the referent of the expression "Old Nick" as employed in traditional British narrative.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, employ · **To what, where:** referent, traditional British narrative

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 31 «Soft words for hard things: drinking and drugs and religion and fate» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/euphemisms/31-drinking-drugs-religion-fate/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:31-drinking-drugs-religion-fate:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the referent of the expression "Old Nick" as employed in traditional British narrative.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	referent	referent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	Old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	Nick	Nick	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
12	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	advcl	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	traditional	traditional	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
15	British	British	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	narrative	narrative	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the referent of the expression |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent referent=Topic |
| 2 | **employ** | participle | you *not said here* |  |  | traditional British narrative |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 notorious highwayman of the eighteenth century

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:31-drinking-drugs-religion-fate:e3:o1:1
# text = A notorious highwayman of the eighteenth century
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	notorious	notorious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	highwayman	highwayman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	eighteenth	eighteenth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	century	century	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Devil

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:31-drinking-drugs-religion-fate:e3:o2:1
# text = The Devil
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Devil	Devil	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Saint Nicholas, otherwise known as Father Christmas

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:31-drinking-drugs-religion-fate:e3:o3:1
# text = Saint Nicholas, otherwise known as Father Christmas
1	Saint	Saint	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	Nicholas	Nicholas	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
4	otherwise	otherwise	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	known	know	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	acl	_	_
6	as	as	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	Father	Father	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	flat	_	_
8	Christmas	Christmas	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | participle |  | Saint *not said here* |  |  |  | as Father Christmas; otherwise *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer as christmas=Attribute |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An elderly agricultural labourer

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:31-drinking-drugs-religion-fate:e3:o4:1
# text = An elderly agricultural labourer
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	elderly	elderly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	agricultural	agricultural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	labourer	labourer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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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