Talk:Perverb

Unfortunately I don't recall who invented this concept and the term. I may have learned about it in Martin Gardner's column or books. Perhaps it is an Oulipo invention? Jorge Stolfi 05:24, 6 May 2004 (UTC)


 * When I first found this article, I thought that it might be too obscure to be "encyclopedic", especially with only 169 Google hits, but one of them was for the OED website, so I guess it's safe from a VfD. ;-) gK [[User talk:GK|&iquest;?]] 09:24, 28 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Garden path proverb
It is claimed:
 * To be effective, a written perverb must have correct syntax, spelling, and punctuation, as in the "time flies" example above. Those that require a change in spelling or punctuation, like the "counting chickens" example above, may still qualify as "oral" perverbs.

Yet, most of the examples given result from incorrect punctuation, mostly left-out commas. Writing confusing texts without proper punctuation is like shooting sitting bulls. (In the spirit of the page---no offense to the chief.) I suggest a corresponding clean-up. 88.77.191.233 (talk) 16:09, 11 July 2009 (UTC)


 * I have tried to fix the text. In any case, those made-up examples should eventually be replaced by examples from external sources, with refs. All the best, --Jorge Stolfi (talk) 22:20, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

Question about banner
Back in 2010, somebody posted a banner saying "The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject." Unless there is some explanation of this, and what it would take to satisfy some standard, I will soon remove the banner, assuming it is now satisfactory.Pete unseth (talk) 02:13, 19 April 2012 (UTC)