---
title: A footballer was sent off for flipping the bird at the crowd. What d… — Soft words for hard things: rudeness a… · tree and pragmatics
description: A footballer was sent off for flipping the bird at the crowd. What did he do? Test 4 · ★★★ of lesson 40 «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
---

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# Test 4 · ★★★ · Soft words for hard things: rudeness and swearing

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A footballer was sent off for flipping the bird at the crowd. What did he do?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** footballer · **What happens:** send off, flip, do · **To what, where:** footballer, bird, crowd

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★★★ of lesson 40 «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/40-with-all-due-respect/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A footballer was sent off for flipping the bird at the crowd.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:40-with-all-due-respect:t4:1
# text = A footballer was sent off for flipping the bird at the crowd.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	footballer	footballer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	sent	send	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	off	off	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
6	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
7	flipping	flip	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	crowd	crowd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send off** | past · passive |  | a footballer |  |  |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **flip** | gerund |  | the bird |  | the crowd |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent bird=Theme at crowd=Destination |

<!-- .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:* What did he do?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:40-with-all-due-respect:t4:2
# text = What did he do?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past · do-support | footballer |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He did a backflip in front of the fans to celebrate

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:40-with-all-due-respect:t4:o1:1
# text = He did a backflip in front of the fans to celebrate
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	backflip	backflip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	front	front	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	fans	fan	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	celebrate	celebrate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past | He | a backflip |  | front of the fans |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent backflip=Eventuality |
| 2 | **celebrate** | to-infinitive | He *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He threw a pigeon at them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:40-with-all-due-respect:t4:o2:1
# text = He threw a pigeon at them
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	threw	throw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	pigeon	pigeon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **throw** | past | He | a pigeon |  |  |  | at them *= they* | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent pigeon=Theme at they=Destination |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He raised his middle finger at them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:40-with-all-due-respect:t4:o3:1
# text = He raised his middle finger at them
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	raised	raise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
4	middle	middle	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	finger	finger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **raise** | past | He | his middle finger |  |  |  | at them *= they* | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent finger=Theme at they=Destination |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He waved a flag at them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:40-with-all-due-respect:t4:o4:1
# text = He waved a flag at them
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	waved	wave	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	flag	flag	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wave** | past | He | a flag |  |  |  | at them *= they* | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent flag=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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- ← previous: [Soft words for hard things: rudeness a…, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/40-with-all-due-respect/t3/)
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