---
title: A mean joke: "With that mug he's got a face for radio." What is the… — Soft words for hard things: age and lo… · tree and pragmatics
description: A mean joke: "With that mug he's got a face for radio." What is the joke saying? Test 8 of lesson 9 «Soft words for hard things: age and looks and weight» 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 8 · Soft words for hard things: age and looks and weight

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A mean joke: "With that mug he's got a face for radio." What is the joke saying?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** he, joke · **What happens:** get, say · **To what, where:** face · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 of lesson 9 «Soft words for hard things: age and looks and weight» 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/9-age-looks-and-size/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A mean joke: "With that mug he's got a face for radio."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:9-age-looks-and-size:t8:1
# text = A mean joke: "With that mug he's got a face for radio."
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	mean	mean	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	joke	joke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	11	punct	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	With	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	8	det	_	_
8	mug	mug	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	got	get	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	3	acl:relcl	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	radio	radio	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** *in a quote* | present · passive | he | a face |  |  |  | with that mug; for radio | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent face=Theme for radio=Source |

<!-- .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 is the joke saying?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:9-age-looks-and-size:t8:2
# text = What is the joke saying?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	obj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	joke	joke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · progressive | the joke |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He drinks a lot of tea

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:9-age-looks-and-size:t8:o1:1
# text = He drinks a lot of tea
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	drinks	drink	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	lot	lot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	tea	tea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drink** | present | He | a lot of tea |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lot=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He should be a singer

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:9-age-looks-and-size:t8:o2:1
# text = He should be a singer
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	singer	singer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | should | He | a singer |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He talks a lot

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:9-age-looks-and-size:t8:o3:1
# text = He talks a lot
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	talks	talk	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	lot	lot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **talk** | present | He | a lot |  |  |  |  | vn compel-59.1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent lot=Patient |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He is ugly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:9-age-looks-and-size:t8:o4:1
# text = He is ugly
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	ugly	ugly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | ugly *property* | tree rules |

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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: age and lo…, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/9-age-looks-and-size/t7/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: age and lo…, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/9-age-looks-and-size/t9/)
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