---
title: A 1920s film says a dancer is "the cat's pyjamas". What would a kid… — Slang and how it changes with every ge… · tree and pragmatics
description: A 1920s film says a dancer is "the cat's pyjamas". What would a kid say today? Test 11 of lesson 17 «Slang and how it changes with every generation» of the language 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 11 · Slang and how it changes with every generation

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A 1920s film says a dancer is "the cat's pyjamas". What would a kid say today?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** 1920s film, dancer, kid · **What happens:** say, be · **To what, where:** pyjamas · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 of lesson 17 «Slang and how it changes with every generation» of the language 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/language/17-slang-and-how-it-changes-with-every-generation/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A 1920s film says a dancer is "the cat's pyjamas".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:17-slang-and-how-it-changes-with-every-generation:t11:1
# text = A 1920s film says a dancer is "the cat's pyjamas".
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	1920s	1920s	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan|NumForm=Combi|NumType=Card	3	compound	_	_
3	film	film	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	dancer	dancer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	pyjamas	pyjama	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a 1920s film |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | a dancer | the cat's pyjamas |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 would a kid say today?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:17-slang-and-how-it-changes-with-every-generation:t11:2
# text = What would a kid say today?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	obj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	kid	kid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	today	today	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | would | a kid |  |  |  | today |  | 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 -->
She's sleepy and needs her bed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:17-slang-and-how-it-changes-with-every-generation:t11:o1:1
# text = She's sleepy and needs her bed
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	sleepy	sleepy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	needs	need	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
6	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	bed	bed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | She |  |  |  |  | sleepy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **need** | present | She *not said here* | her bed |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot bed=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She's scared of cats and runs away

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:17-slang-and-how-it-changes-with-every-generation:t11:o2:1
# text = She's scared of cats and runs away
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	scared	scared	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	runs	run	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
8	away	away	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | She |  |  |  |  | of cats; scared *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **run away** | present | She *not said here* |  |  |  |  | away *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She's amazing, she ate that

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:17-slang-and-how-it-changes-with-every-generation:t11:o3:1
# text = She's amazing, she ate that
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	amazing	amazing	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	ate	eat	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | She |  |  |  |  | amazing *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **eat** | past | she | that |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent that=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She's wearing cat-patterned clothes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:17-slang-and-how-it-changes-with-every-generation:t11:o4:1
# text = She's wearing cat-patterned clothes
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	wearing	wear	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	patterned	pattern	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	amod	_	_
7	clothes	clothes	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wear** | present · progressive | She | patterned clothes |  |  |  |  | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1-1 «NP V NP.source»: agent=Agent clothes=Source |
| 2 | **pattern** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**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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