---
title: Mid-meeting the boss mutters "Back in five, gotta see a man about a… — Soft words for hard things: the toilet… · tree and pragmatics
description: Mid-meeting the boss mutters "Back in five, gotta see a man about a dog." Is anyone getting a dog? Test 7 of lesson 6 «Soft words for hard things: the toilet and bodily functions» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each o
---

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# Test 7 · Soft words for hard things: the toilet and bodily functions

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mid-meeting the boss mutters "Back in five, gotta see a man about a dog." Is anyone getting a dog?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Mid-meeting · **What happens:** mutter, see, be, get · **To what, where:** five, man, anyone, dog · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 of lesson 6 «Soft words for hard things: the toilet and bodily functions» 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/6-toilet-words/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Mid-meeting the boss mutters "Back in five, gotta see a man about a dog."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:6-toilet-words:t7:1
# text = Mid-meeting the boss mutters "Back in five, gotta see a man about a dog."
1	Mid-meeting	Mid-meeting	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	boss	boss	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	mutters	mutter	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Back	back	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	gotta	gotta	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	see	see	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
14	about	about	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mutter** *speech: assert* | present | Mid-meeting |  |  | five |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **see** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | a man |  |  |  | about a dog | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer man=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Is anyone getting a dog?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:6-toilet-words:t7:2
# text = Is anyone getting a dog?
1	Is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	cop	_	_
2	anyone	anyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	3	csubj	_	_
3	getting	get	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | anyone |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **get** | gerund |  | a dog |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer dog=Stimulus |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, he is buying a puppy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:6-toilet-words:t7:o1:1
# text = Yes, he is buying a puppy
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	buying	buy	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	puppy	puppy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **buy** | present · progressive | he | a puppy |  |  |  |  | vn accept-77.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent puppy=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, he is phoning the vet

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:6-toilet-words:t7:o2:1
# text = No, he is phoning the vet
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	phoning	phone	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	vet	vet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **phone** | present · progressive | he | the vet |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent vet=Recipient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, he is going to the toilet

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:6-toilet-words:t7:o3:1
# text = No, he is going to the toilet
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	toilet	toilet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | present · progressive | he |  |  | the toilet |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to toilet=Initial\_Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, a dog is coming to the office

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:6-toilet-words:t7:o4:1
# text = Yes, a dog is coming to the office
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	coming	come	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	office	office	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | present · progressive | a dog |  |  | the office |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to office=Initial\_Location |

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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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