---
title: Why does someone say "Fudge!" instead of the word it stands for? — Soft words for hard things: rudeness a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does someone say "Fudge!" instead of the word it stands for? Test 12 · ★ of lesson 38 «Soft words for hard things: rudeness and swearing» 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 12 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: rudeness and swearing

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does someone say "Fudge!" instead of the word it stands for?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** someone, Fudge · **What happens:** say, stand for · **To what, where:** Fudge, word · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 12 · ★ of lesson 38 «Soft words for hard things: rudeness and swearing» 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/38-drat-and-the-f-word/#t12).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:38-drat-and-the-f-word:t12:1
# text = Why does someone say "Fudge!" instead of the word it stands for?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	4	nsubj	_	_
4	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Fudge	fudge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
9	instead	instead	ADV	RB	ExtPos=ADP	12	case	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	fixed	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	stands	stand	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	acl:relcl	_	_
15	for	for	ADP	IN	_	14	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · do-support | someone | Fudge |  |  |  | instead the word | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent fudge=Topic |
| 2 | **stand for** | present | Fudge | the word *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «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 -->
Because it is the f-word in French

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:38-drat-and-the-f-word:t12:o1:1
# text = Because it is the f-word in French
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	f	f	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	French	French	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | it | the f word |  | French |  |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To show anger without using a strong swear word

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:38-drat-and-the-f-word:t12:o2:1
# text = To show anger without using a strong swear word
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	show	show	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	anger	anger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	without	without	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	using	use	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
7	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
8	swear	swear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | to-infinitive |  | anger |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent anger=Recipient |
| 2 | **use** | gerund |  | a strong swear word |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because fudge is a stronger swear

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:38-drat-and-the-f-word:t12:o3:1
# text = Because fudge is a stronger swear
1	Because	because	ADP	IN	ExtPos=ADP	2	case	_	_
2	fudge	fudge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	stronger	strong	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	amod	_	_
6	swear	swear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | a stronger swear |  |  |  | because fudge | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because they are thinking about sweets

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:38-drat-and-the-f-word:t12:o4:1
# text = Because they are thinking about sweets
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	thinking	think	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	about	about	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	sweets	sweet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | present · progressive | they |  |  |  |  | about sweets | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent about sweet=Topic |

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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 -->

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- ← previous: [Soft words for hard things: rudeness a…, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/38-drat-and-the-f-word/t11/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: rudeness a…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/38-drat-and-the-f-word/e1/)
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