--- title: «I did brush my teeth»: little lies at home — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: ««I did brush my teeth»: little lies at home», a lesson of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: «Tamping I am, Owen» — in Wales «tamping» means furious — «back up those stairs.» The tablet went off early for the lie. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/) [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/) / [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/) / «I did brush my teeth»: little lies at… # «I did brush my teeth»: little lies at home Lesson 427 of the everyday course of Mova's primary school: 23 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/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/). - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/1/) — «Tamping I am, Owen» — in Wales «tamping» means furious — «back up those stairs.» The tablet went off early for the lie. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/2/) — So Owen got clever and wet the brush under the tap without brushing. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/3/) — It worked for a week. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/4/) — Then the dentist said «Somebody hasn't been brushing» and showed the brown bits on his back teeth. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/5/) — You can trick a mum, but not your own teeth. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/6/) — Little lies at home are about easy jobs — hands, teeth, showers, tidying, reading — and they are usually caught by something small. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/7/) — Mia in Melbourne said she'd washed her hands while holding a sandwich in grey sandpit fingers; Dad said «Yeah nah, mate», which in Australia means «no». - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/8/) — Aisha said she'd read her chapter about a dragon; the book was about a pony. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/9/) — Tom in Newcastle came down «showered» with dry hair and the same socks, and his sister said «Howay man, you smell like a PE bag.» Next time Tom just asked «can I go after this game?», and his mum said yes. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/10/) — Some little lies are not little at all. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/12/) — The hamster was fine after food, but Dad was properly angry: «You can lie about your teeth, but not about an animal that can't tell me.» Liam in Texas said he took his cough medicine, but Grandma checked the line on the bottle. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/15/) — Jess «tidied» by stuffing everything into the wardrobe: when Mum opened it, an avalanche of socks, Lego and a mouldy apple fell on her, and the proper sorting took three times longer. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/16/) — And Grace hid her broccoli in her napkin and said «All gone!» Nobody ever found out. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/18/) — Lies about easy jobs at home are usually caught by small clues: a dry toothbrush, dry hair, dirty hands. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/19/) — Tricking a check, like wetting a toothbrush, fools a person but not your body: teeth that are not brushed get decay. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/20/) — Dentists can see when teeth have not been brushed well, from plaque and early decay. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/21/) — Lying about feeding a pet can hurt the animal, because nobody else knows it is hungry. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/22/) — Lying about taking medicine can keep you ill longer; if it tastes awful, say so, because there may be another kind. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/23/) — If you cannot say what happened in a chapter, people know you did not read it. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/24/) — A half-truth, like a clear floor with everything stuffed in the wardrobe, is still a trick. - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/26/) — Asking honestly for «five more minutes» often gets you more than a lie does. - [27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/27/) — Getting away with a lie does not always feel like winning; guilt can feel worse than being caught. - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/28/) — Each small lie teaches people not to trust your «yes». - ← previous: [«The dog ate it»: excuses for homework](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework/) - next →: [The broken window and other hidden accidents](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/) - ↑ back to [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/)