---
title: Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes and stupidity and m… — how Mova does on the tests · Euphemisms
description: Lesson 35 of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school: 5 of 12 tests right, exam 1 of 4, every question with the options, the student's choice, the right answer and why it chose.
---

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# Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes and stupidity and madness

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**Tests:** 5 of 12 right · **Exam:** 1 of 4 right · **Kind:** plain · **Understood:** 5 of 16 · **Run:** 2026-10-18, commit `f3c23ea72`

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Lesson 35 of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/).

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Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson's questions in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/).

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### Test 1 · right ✓ {#t1}

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"printer won't work, helpdesk says user error. rude!!" What is the helpdesk saying?

- **1.** The helpdesk is at fault for the trouble — no support
- **2.** The ink has run out — no support
- **3.** The person using it got it wrong — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 15
- **4.** The printer is broken — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 15, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 35, line 2: «Others shift the blame: when a helpdesk says "user error", it means the machine is fine and the person using it got it wrong.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «use» (+6); the same doer «person» (+6); it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same thing acted on «person» (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/t1/)

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### Test 2 · wrong ✗ {#t2}

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"The new bridge fell short of what was promised." What does this say about the bridge?

- **1.** It fell down — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** It was too short to cross the river — no support
- **3.** It was finished early — no support
- **4.** It was not as good as promised — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/t2/)

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### Test 3 · wrong ✗ {#t3}

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"I spilled blue ink on my drawing and it looked like the sea — a happy accident!" How did the spill turn out?

- **1.** Badly — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Well — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** Nobody saw it — no support
- **4.** It was planned — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/t3/)

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### Test 4 · wrong ✗ {#t4}

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Gossip: "Her new boyfriend? Lovely, but not the sharpest tool in the shed." What is said about him?

- **1.** He is not kind — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** He is not very clever — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** He has no tools — no support
- **4.** He is a gardener — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/t4/)

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### Test 5 · wrong ✗ {#t5}

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"U put the milk in the oven?? lights are on but nobody's home, mate." What is the speaker saying?

- **1.** The oven is broken — no support
- **2.** You were not thinking at all — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** The lights in the house are on — **← Mova's choice** · score 9
- **4.** Nobody is at home — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 9, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 35, line 16: «"The lights are on but nobody's home" means a person is stupid or not paying attention.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same property (+4); the same doer «lights» (+3); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/t5/)

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### Test 6 · right ✓ {#t6}

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An Australian uncle: "That bloke who parked on the beach? Few kangaroos loose in the top paddock." What does he think of the man?

- **1.** He is a bit mad — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** He is very brave — no support
- **3.** He is lost — no support
- **4.** He is a farmer — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/t6/)

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### Test 7 · wrong ✗ {#t7}

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"Called it an honest mistake, but he kept the change three times." Why might the speaker doubt it?

- **1.** Honest mistakes happen three times — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** He gave the money back — no support
- **3.** Doing it three times looks like it was on purpose — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** Change is always kept — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/t7/)

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### Test 8 · wrong ✗ {#t8}

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Leo says: "'He's no Einstein' means he's not famous, right?" Is Leo right?

- **1.** Yes, it means he has no hair — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Yes, it means he is not famous — no support
- **3.** No, it means he is not very clever — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** No, it means he is not old — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/t8/)

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### Test 9 · wrong ✗ {#t9}

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A teacher to a parent: "Max is a bit slow with fractions." What is the teacher saying gently?

- **1.** Max is often late for maths — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Max finds fractions hard — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** Max writes fractions slowly but well — no support
- **4.** Max is the best at fractions — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/t9/)

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### Test 10 · right ✓ {#t10}

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"shut up, you're a sausage short of a barbie, it's Tuesday not Friday" What does the speaker think of the friend?

- **1.** The friend is being stupid — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** The friend is a good cook — no support
- **3.** The friend forgot the barbecue — no support
- **4.** The friend is hungry — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/t10/)

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### Test 11 · right ✓ {#t11}

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The science teacher drops the egg: "Ha! A teachable moment, everyone — what went wrong?" What is she doing?

- **1.** Turning her mistake into a lesson — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 10
- **2.** Blaming a pupil — no support
- **3.** Starting a test — no support
- **4.** Ending the lesson early — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 10, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 33, line 2: «Teachers and bosses use gentle words to be kind, such as "room for improvement" on a school report, which really means the work is poor.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same doer «teachers» (+4). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/t11/)

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### Test 12 · right ✓ {#t12}

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A boss about a new worker: "Not exactly a rocket scientist, but he works hard." What is said?

- **1.** He is clever and lazy — no support
- **2.** He is not very clever but works hard — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score -4
- **3.** He is a scientist who works hard — score -4
- **4.** He builds rockets at weekends — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score -4, tied with another option at -4 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 16, line 9: «"Could do better" (an everyday UK phrase) means the pupil is not working hard enough.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same property (+4); the same action «work» (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-3); one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-6). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/t12/)

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### Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e1}

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Whereas a technical support department attributes a malfunction to "user error", identify the party held responsible thereby.

- **1.** The technical support department itself — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** The manufacturer of the equipment — no support
- **3.** No party whatsoever — no support
- **4.** The person operating the equipment — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/e1/)

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### Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e2}

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Ascertain the meaning of the colloquial Australian expression "a sausage short of a barbie" when applied to a person.

- **1.** The person is an accomplished cook — no support
- **2.** The person is employed as a butcher — **← Mova's choice** · score 5
- **3.** The person is foolish or somewhat irrational — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** The person has insufficient provisions for a barbecue — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 35, line 2: «Others shift the blame: when a helpdesk says "user error", it means the machine is fine and the person using it got it wrong.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «use» (+3); the same thing acted on «person» (+2). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/e2/)

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### Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e3}

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It is given that an outcome is described as "a happy accident". Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the outcome?

- **1.** A collision occurred in which nobody was injured — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** A deliberate plan was executed successfully — no support
- **3.** An unfortunate event occasioned general amusement — no support
- **4.** An unintended error produced a favourable result — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/e3/)

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### Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓ {#e4}

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Determine the meaning of the expression "fell short" as employed in respect of a team's attempt to reach a final.

- **1.** The team failed to attain its objective — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** The team attained its objective with ease — no support
- **3.** The team fell to the ground during the final — no support
- **4.** The team was of insufficient physical stature — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/e4/)

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- ← previous: [34. Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/euphemisms/34-failure-and-mistakes/)
- next →: [36. Soft words for hard things: stupidity and madness](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/euphemisms/36-dim-and-round-the-bend/)
- ↑ back to [Euphemisms](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/euphemisms/)