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Author Topic: The longest sentence in English
Jonathan Howard
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I never passed 65 per sentence, and I only use one semicolon per sentence, unless it's one of those list-sentences.

quote:
In the event that the Purchaser defaults in the payment of any instalment of purchase price, taxes, insurance, interest, or the annual charge described elsewhere herein, or shall default in the performance of any other obligations set forth in this Contract, the Seller may: at his option: (a) Declare immediately due and payable the entire unpaid balance of purchase price, with accrued interest, taxes, and annual charge, and demand full payment thereof, and enforce conveyance of the land by termination of the contract or according to the terms hereof, in which case the Purchaser shall also be liable to the Seller for reasonable attorney's fees for services rendered by any attorney on behalf of the Seller, or (b) sell said land and premises or any part thereof at public auction, in such manner, at such time and place, upon such terms and conditions, and upon such public notice as the Seller may deem best for the interest of all concerned, consisting of advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or city in which the security property is located at least once a week for Three (3) successive weeks or for such period as applicable law may require and, in case of default of any purchaser, to re-sell with such postponement of sale or resale and upon such public notice thereof as the Seller may determine, and upon compliance by the Purchaser with the terms of sale, and upon judicial approval as may be required by law, convey said land and premises in fee simple to and at the cost of the Purchaser, who shall not be liable to see to the application of the purchase money; and from the proceeds of the sale: FIRST to pay all proper costs and charges, including but not limited to court costs, advertising expenses, auctioneer's allowance, the expenses, if any required to correct any irregularity in the title, premium for Seller's bond, auditor's fee, attorney's fee, and all other expenses of sale occurred in and about the protection and execution of this contract, and all moneys advanced for taxes, assessments, insurance, and with interest thereon as provided herein, and all taxes due upon said land and premises at time of sale, and to retain as compensation a commission of five percent (5%) on the amount of said sale or sales; SECOND, to pay the whole amount then remaining unpaid of the principal of said contract, and interest thereon to date of payment, whether the same shall be due or not, it being understood and agreed that upon such sale before maturity of the contract the balance thereof shall be immediately due and payable; THIRD, to pay liens of record against the security property according to their priority of lien and to the extent that funds remaining in the hands of the Seller are available; and LAST, to pay the remainder of said proceeds, if any, to the vendor, his heirs, personals representatives, successors or assigns upon the delivery and surrender to the vendee of possession of the land and premises, less costs and excess of obtaining possession.
Not bad, but can anyone quote something longer than these 516? (I heard of some 13,000 words!)
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TomDavidson
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In theory, you could cheat by making any list subdivided by semi-colons.
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no. 6
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I think the longest sentence I ever read was in Michael Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius series.

But, like Tom stated previously, it was just a very long list, separated by commas instead of colons, which went on and on for a couple of pages.

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Jon Boy
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Technically, there's no limit to the length of a sentence in English. You could have something like "He said that I said that he said that I said that . . ." continuing forever, and it would be entirely grammatically correct.
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Jonathan Howard
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Now, that's not creative!
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Jonathan K.
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Most sentences are not creative. i.e. Most sentences are not creative.
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Jim-Me
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whoa, when did Jon Boy come back?

[ April 06, 2005, 02:41 PM: Message edited by: Jim-Me ]

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Jon Boy
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A couple weeks ago. You didn't see my landmark? I feel so overlooked and neglected.
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IrishAphrodite19
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What about that Jamiaca Kincaid story "Girl"? it is comprised of, I think, two sentences? Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter From Birmingham Jail" also has one paragraph that is just one long sentance if I remember correctly.

However, I am not sure exactly how long they are, I am too lazy to look it up or to count the words.

~Irish

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Jonathan Howard
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The guy who wrote the big sentence above is MY lawyer!
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chracatoa
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Patrick O'Brian (Capt. Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin "Master and Commander" etc.) is knwon to write really long sentences. I remember the first paragraph of one of his books was more than 300 words!
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Mike
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quote:
Most sentences are not creative. i.e. Most sentences are not creative.
You mean "e.g.", right?
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Jon Boy
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Zing!

And anyway, Jonathan (H., not K.), you never said it had to be creative.

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Jonathan Howard
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No, but why create a dull, long sntence that's basically over-systematic?

The "coolness" is why one should write it so.

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Eaquae Legit
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There's a passage in the Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen that's three or four pages long. But, as mentioned, it's a list.
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MyrddinFyre
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Anything written by Beckett is a really long sentence. No semicolons.
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fugu13
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Only his later stuff [Razz]

And in the very latest stuff, there're no periods, comma, or other punctuation as well. He was going to have no paragraph/section breaks, but decided against it at the last minute.

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MyrddinFyre
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Yeah, yeah... i was simplifying, so sue me [Razz]
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