---
title: Sam laughs "you've only got two ears, Mum!" Which idiom works the sa… — Idioms taken literally · tree and pragmatics
description: Sam laughs "you've only got two ears, Mum!" Which idiom works the same way, by picturing body parts? Test 11 · ★★ of lesson 25 «Idioms taken literally» 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 right
---

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# Test 11 · ★★ · Idioms taken literally

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sam laughs "you've only got two ears, Mum!" Which idiom works the same way, by picturing body parts?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Sam, you, idiom · **What happens:** laugh, get, work, picture · **To what, where:** two ears, same way, body parts · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★★ of lesson 25 «Idioms taken literally» 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/25-idioms-taken-literally/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Sam laughs "you've only got two ears, Mum!"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:25-idioms-taken-literally:t11:1
# text = Sam laughs "you've only got two ears, Mum!"
1	Sam	Sam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	laughs	laugh	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	've	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	got	get	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	2	ccomp	_	_
8	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	ears	ear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
11	Mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **laugh** | present | Sam |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **get** *in a quote* | present · perfect | you | two ears and Mum |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer ear=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:* Which idiom works the same way, by picturing body parts?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:25-idioms-taken-literally:t11:2
# text = Which idiom works the same way, by picturing body parts?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	idiom	idiom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	works	work	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
9	picturing	picture	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
10	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	parts	part	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **work** | present | which idiom | the same way |  |  |  |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **picture** | gerund | which idiom *not said here* | body parts |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent part=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Raining cats and dogs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:25-idioms-taken-literally:t11:o1:1
# text = Raining cats and dogs
1	Raining	rain	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rain** | gerund |  | cats and dogs |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Give someone a hand

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:25-idioms-taken-literally:t11:o2:1
# text = Give someone a hand
1	Give	give	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	1	obj	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | imperative | you *not said here* | a hand | someone |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent someone=Recipient hand=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Over the moon

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:25-idioms-taken-literally:t11:o3:1
# text = Over the moon
1	Over	over	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	moon	moon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sick as a parrot

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:25-idioms-taken-literally:t11:o4:1
# text = Sick as a parrot
1	Sick	sick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
2	as	as	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	parrot	parrot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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: [Idioms taken literally, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/25-idioms-taken-literally/t10/)
- next →: [Idioms taken literally, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/25-idioms-taken-literally/e1/)
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