--- title: Adverts and "8 out of 10 cats" — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Adverts and "8 out of 10 cats"», a lesson of the world course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: An advert is made by someone who wants your money, so it shows the best bits, hides the catch in tiny letters and picks words that sound bigg --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/) [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/) / [World](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/) / Adverts and "8 out of 10 cats" # Adverts and "8 out of 10 cats" Lesson 176 of the world course of Mova's primary school: 18 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/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/0/) — An advert is made by someone who wants your money, so it shows the best bits, hides the catch in tiny letters and picks words that sound bigger than they are. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/1/) — "8 out of 10 cats prefer it!" sounds huge until the small print says "based on 10 cats": ten cats, maybe the advert man's own, maybe hungry, and nobody says what the other food was. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/2/) — Mia's dad: "I could get 8 out of 10 cats to prefer a sock if they were hungry enough." - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/3/) — Two questions crack most adverts: "Out of how many?" and "Compared with what?" A shampoo that makes hair "70% shinier" than not washing at all has only beaten a muddy dog. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/4/) — Read the small print, the "sold separately" and the "was" price, then look at what is really in the box. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/5/) — Laugh at the advert's trick, not at the person who believed it: grown-ups fall for these every day, which is exactly why the tricks are used. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/6/) — A test on only 10 cats is far too small to say what cats in general prefer; a fair test uses many animals, chosen fairly, compared with other foods. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/7/) — "Recommended by dentists" without saying which dentists or how many is a vague claim; dentists recommend fluoride toothpaste in general, and most brands have it. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/8/) — A number like "30% more fun" measures nothing real; if nobody can say how it was measured, the number is decoration. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/9/) — "Number one" in an advert often shrinks in the small print to number one in a tiny group, such as one kind of toy in one shop in one month. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/10/) — Famous people are paid to wear and use things in adverts; their skill comes from years of practice, not from the shoes. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/11/) — Some shops raise a price for a short time so that a later "sale" looks bigger; compare with the usual price and with other shops. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/12/) — If kids who take vitamin gummies are healthier, it may be because their families also eat well and exercise; going together is not the same as causing. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/13/) — "Zero sugar" can be true while the drink is still sweetened, coloured fizzy water; water and milk are the best drinks for children. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/14/) — A vote is only fair if lots of people with no reason to pick one side take part; the owner's family is not a fair jury. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/15/) — A fair test compares a product with other products, not with nothing, so "shinier than not washing" proves almost nothing. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/16/) — Adverts show everything you could buy; "sold separately" and "batteries not included" tell you what is not in the box. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/176-adverts-and-8-out-of-10-cats/17/) — Words people use: "bussin'" (US kids) means really good, especially food; "mid" means just average; "fr" means "for real"; "tbh" means "to be honest"; "quid" (UK) means pounds; "lekker" (South Africa) means great or tasty; "y'all" (US South) means "you all". - ← previous: ["It's on TikTok so it's true" and the comment section](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/175-its-on-tiktok-so-its-true-and-the-comment-section/) - next →: ["Crime is up, I saw it on the news"](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/177-crime-is-up-i-saw-it-on-the-news/) - ↑ back to [World](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/)