We've got a lot of these in English, but they don't seem to have put foreigners off learning the language. The ones most of them probably won't get to learn are those which have the sole purpose of enabling one Englishman to feel superior to another:
I am firm, you are obstinate, he is a pig-headed fool
I am Oxford, you are Cambridge, he is London School of Economics
I like boys, you are a scoutmaster, he is in prison
Anybody know any others?
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- You couldn't make it up
- ...Rough-hew them how we will.
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- Aluminum
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- Yetzirah
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- Maybe if they squeeze up a bit...
- Our Great and Respected Leader: Part 1
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8 comments:
I am witty. You are acerbic. He is twisted.
Is that what you mean?
This is fun.
Yetzirah
Yes, that's it. Got any more?
I am a traveller
You are a tourist
They are holidaymakers
Am I on the right track?
I am honest. You are blunt. He is rude.
And I'll leave it there before I get boring. (The previous Anonymous was me but the next one won't be)
Yes, they're fine, but I was really hoping for some lewd ones.
I am lewd
He is lewder
They are lewdest?
PerfectlyVocal
Yes, and there's also:
I am suggestive, you are indecent, he is unspeakably filthy.
In a practice paper for the Oxford Entrance Exam I was once confronted with the essay question 'How would you differentiate between the erotic, the pornographic, and the obscene?'
I wrote, "Only by careful scrutiny."
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