---
title: An English cousin is scared when a Glasgow girl says "away and bile… — Idioms taken literally · tree and pragmatics
description: An English cousin is scared when a Glasgow girl says "away and bile yer heid". What should he understand? Test 9 · ★★ 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 w
---

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# Test 9 · ★★ · Idioms taken literally

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An English cousin is scared when a Glasgow girl says "away and bile yer heid". What should he understand?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** English cousin, Glasgow girl, he · **What happens:** be, say, understand · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★★ 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/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* An English cousin is scared when a Glasgow girl says "away and bile yer heid".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:25-idioms-taken-literally:t9:1
# text = An English cousin is scared when a Glasgow girl says "away and bile yer heid".
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	English	English	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	cousin	cousin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	scared	scared	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	10	mark	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	Glasgow	Glasgow	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	girl	girl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
11	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	away	away	ADV	RB	_	10	ccomp	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	bile	bile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	_
15	yer	yer	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	heid	heid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | a English cousin |  |  |  |  | scared *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a Glasgow girl |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 should he understand?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:25-idioms-taken-literally:t9:2
# text = What should he understand?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	understand	understand	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 | **understand** | should | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer what=Stimulus |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She really means to hurt him

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:25-idioms-taken-literally:t9:o1:1
# text = She really means to hurt him
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	really	really	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	hurt	hurt	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
6	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | She |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **hurt** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  | him *= he* |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer he=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's a recipe

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:25-idioms-taken-literally:t9:o2:1
# text = It's a recipe
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	recipe	recipe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It means "come here quickly"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:25-idioms-taken-literally:t9:o3:1
# text = It means "come here quickly"
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	ccomp	_	_
5	here	here	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
6	quickly	quickly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **come** *in a quote* | infinitive |  |  |  | here |  | quickly *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's a cheeky "go away", not a threat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:25-idioms-taken-literally:t9:o4:1
# text = It's a cheeky "go away", not a threat
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	cheeky	cheeky	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	go	go	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
7	away	away	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	threat	threat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | cheeky *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **go away** *in a quote* | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | away *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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