--- title: Our street: when a guess becomes a reputation — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Our street: when a guess becomes a reputation», a lesson of the adult life course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: A reputation is what people think you are like. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Adult life](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/) / Our street: when a guess becomes a rep… # Our street: when a guess becomes a reputation Lesson 43 of the adult life course of Mova's primary school: 25 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/0/) — A reputation is what people think you are like. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/1/) — On a street it is often built from tiny things: one bad week with the bins, one shout heard through a window, one walk to school with a friend. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/2/) — Repeat a guess enough times and it sticks to a person like a label. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/3/) — Many puzzling things have a boring reason. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/4/) — A man who comes home at strange hours may be a hospital porter on night shifts. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/5/) — A woman who is never seen outside may use a wheelchair on a path with steps. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/6/) — Sunglasses in the rain may be for sensitive eyes. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/7/) — Scene: in Toronto, Grandad mutters about «the kids from the flats, always hanging round the shop, up to no good». - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/8/) — What he can see is teenagers chatting after school. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/10/) — Some gossip is lovely: Mrs Lee bought the park kids ice lollies with her bingo money; the Evanses invite the whole street to their fortieth anniversary. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/11/) — Good-news gossip that thanks someone or shares their own news is the best kind. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/12/) — And when you are truly worried about a child's safety, that is not gossip: tell a trusted adult, who knows who to talk to. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/13/) — A reputation can grow from one small moment repeated as «always»; one bad week is not a whole reputation. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/14/) — Strange hours often mean a shift worker, like a nurse, porter or baker, keeping everyone safe and fed. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/16/) — Judging a whole group, like «the kids from the flats», from one picture is how prejudice starts. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/17/) — When something bad happens to someone, like a burglary, blame the person who did it, not the person it happened to. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/18/) — Never comment on someone's weight; you don't know if they are ill, grieving or just healthier. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/19/) — One word can change a story completely: a wall that «fell down» is not a wall that was «taken down». - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/20/) — Teasing people about who they like can stop them being friends at all. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/21/) — If you are really worried about a child being unsafe, tell a trusted adult instead of turning it into gossip. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/22/) — Not everything people do is about you; a doorbell camera is a common gadget, not an insult. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/23/) — Behind a funny line about someone there may be a sad story, like old pets that died. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/24/) — Good news can be gossip too, and the best stories are the ones people share themselves. - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/25/) — One complaint is not a pattern; get facts before you warn people off a business. - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/26/) — Some gossip can turn into something kind: a card, a collection, a thank you. - ← previous: [Our street: feuds, newcomers and stories that grow](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/42-our-street-feuds-newcomers-and-stories-that-grow/) - next →: [The royal family in the news: a wedding, a move to America, an interview and a book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/44-the-royal-family-in-the-news-a-wedding-a-move-to-america-an-interview-and-a-book/) - ↑ back to [Adult life](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/)