---
title: Which of these phrases is said kindly rather than as a mocking joke? — Soft words for hard things: stupidity… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of these phrases is said kindly rather than as a mocking joke? Test 10 · ★ of lesson 36 «Soft words for hard things: stupidity and madness» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 10 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: stupidity and madness

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of these phrases is said kindly rather than as a mocking joke?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** say · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 10 · ★ of lesson 36 «Soft words for hard things: stupidity and madness» of the euphemisms 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/euphemisms/36-dim-and-round-the-bend/#t10).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:t10:1
# text = Which of these phrases is said kindly rather than as a mocking joke?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	obl	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	4	det	_	_
4	phrases	phrase	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	kindly	kindly	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	rather	rather	ADV	RB	ExtPos=CCONJ	13	cc	_	_
9	than	than	ADP	IN	_	8	fixed	_	_
10	as	as	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	mocking	mocking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	joke	joke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · passive |  |  |  |  |  | kindly *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S» |

<!-- .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 -->
Off his rocker

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:t10:o1:1
# text = Off his rocker
1	Off	off	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	rocker	rocker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Away with the fairies

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:t10:o2:1
# text = Away with the fairies
1	Away	away	ADV	RB	_	0	root	_	_
2	with	with	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	fairies	fairy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nutty as a fruitcake

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:t10:o3:1
# text = Nutty as a fruitcake
1	Nutty	nutty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
2	as	as	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	fruitcake	fruitcake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Gone doolally

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:t10:o4:1
# text = Gone doolally
1	Gone	gone	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
2	doolally	doolally	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .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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