---
title: Ascertain the meaning of the colloquial Australian expression "a sau… — Soft words for hard things: failure an… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the meaning of the colloquial Australian expression "a sausage short of a barbie" when applied to a person. Exam question 2 of lesson 35 «Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes and stupidity and madness» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree 
---

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# Exam question 2 · Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes and stupi…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the meaning of the colloquial Australian expression "a sausage short of a barbie" when applied to a person.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, apply, mean · **To what, where:** meaning, colloquial Australian expression

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 35 «Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes and stupidity and madness» 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/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:35-mistakes-and-stupidity:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the meaning of the colloquial Australian expression "a sausage short of a barbie" when applied to a person.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	colloquial	colloquial	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
7	Australian	Australian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	sausage	sausage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	appos	_	_
12	short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	barbie	barbie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	_
17	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	18	advmod	_	_
18	applied	apply	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	15	acl	_	_
19	to	to	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	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 meaning of the colloquial Australian expression |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **apply** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | to a person | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **mean** |  |  | the colloquial Australian expression |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The person is an accomplished cook

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:35-mistakes-and-stupidity:e2:o1:1
# text = The person is an accomplished cook
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	accomplished	accomplish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	_
6	cook	cook	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **accomplish** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn complete-55.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | present | the person | a accomplished cook |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The person is employed as a butcher

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:35-mistakes-and-stupidity:e2:o2:1
# text = The person is employed as a butcher
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	butcher	butcher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **employ** | present · passive |  | the person |  |  |  | as a butcher | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: subject=Theme as butcher=Attribute |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The person is foolish or somewhat irrational

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:35-mistakes-and-stupidity:e2:o3:1
# text = The person is foolish or somewhat irrational
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	foolish	foolish	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	somewhat	somewhat	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	irrational	irrational	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the person |  |  |  |  | foolish *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | the person *not said here* |  |  |  |  | somewhat *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The person has insufficient provisions for a barbecue

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:35-mistakes-and-stupidity:e2:o4:1
# text = The person has insufficient provisions for a barbecue
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	insufficient	insufficient	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	provisions	provision	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	barbecue	barbecue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | the person | insufficient provisions |  |  |  | for a barbecue | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent provision=Patient |

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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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