---
title: Your dad says "That trick was sick!" Isaac says "Dad, nobody says si… — Slang and how it changes with every ge… · tree and pragmatics
description: Your dad says "That trick was sick!" Isaac says "Dad, nobody says sick anymore." Why did Isaac groan? Test 8 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
---

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# Test 8 · Slang and how it changes with every generation

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your dad says "That trick was sick!" Isaac says "Dad, nobody says sick anymore." Why did Isaac groan?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** dad, trick, Isaac, nobody · **What happens:** say, be, groan · **To what, where:** Dad · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 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/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your dad says "That trick was sick!"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:17-slang-and-how-it-changes-with-every-generation:t8:1
# text = Your dad says "That trick was sick!"
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	6	det	_	_
6	trick	trick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	sick	sick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: express* | present | Your dad |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | past | that trick |  |  |  |  | sick *property* | 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:* Isaac says "Dad, nobody says sick anymore."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:17-slang-and-how-it-changes-with-every-generation:t8:2
# text = Isaac says "Dad, nobody says sick anymore."
1	Isaac	Isaac	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	Dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	7	nsubj	_	_
7	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
8	sick	sick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
9	anymore	anymore	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Isaac |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | present | nobody | Dad *not said here* |  |  |  | anymore, sick *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent dad=Topic |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* Why did Isaac groan?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:17-slang-and-how-it-changes-with-every-generation:t8:3
# text = Why did Isaac groan?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	Isaac	Isaac	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	groan	groan	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 | **groan** | past · do-support | Isaac |  |  |  |  |  | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sick is a very rude word in slang

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:17-slang-and-how-it-changes-with-every-generation:t8:o1:1
# text = Sick is a very rude word in slang
1	Sick	sick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	very	very	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	rude	rude	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	slang	slang	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dads are not allowed to use slang by law

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:17-slang-and-how-it-changes-with-every-generation:t8:o2:1
# text = Dads are not allowed to use slang by law
1	Dads	dad	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	allowed	allow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	use	use	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	slang	slang	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **allow** | present · passive |  | Dads |  |  |  |  | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP S»: subject=Beneficiary clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **use** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Dads *not said here* | slang |  |  |  | by law | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent slang=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sick only means ill, so his dad used the word wrongly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:17-slang-and-how-it-changes-with-every-generation:t8:o3:1
# text = Sick only means ill, so his dad used the word wrongly
1	Sick	sick	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
4	ill	ill	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
7	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	parataxis	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	wrongly	wrongly	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sick** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **mean** | present | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | ill *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **use** | past | his dad | the word |  |  |  | wrongly *property* | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Patient |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Kids often drop slang once parents start using it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:17-slang-and-how-it-changes-with-every-generation:t8:o4:1
# text = Kids often drop slang once parents start using it
1	Kids	kid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	often	often	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	drop	drop	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
4	slang	slang	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	3	advmod	_	_
6	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	start	start	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	using	use	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	xcomp	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drop** | present | Kids | slang |  |  |  | often, once *property* | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent slang=Theme |
| 2 | **start** | present | parents |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **use** | gerund | parents *not said here* | slang |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |

<!-- 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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