That vs. Which

[bdcharles]

Love it when people use all the words, "It was that one which was the one what bit me", that, which, what. Maybe it's just a London thing.

There must be a way of constructing a nested, recursive sentence with an infinite number of thats. I'm gonna try:

That that they discussed, was moot.
That that that gathered group discussed, was moot.
Of the groups, that that that that had gathered, discussed, was moot. Oh, shit, this is getting good.
That that that that that that lord had gathered, discussed, was moot.

No, it works, because "That [topic] that that [group] that that that lord had gathered, discussed, was moot. " Erkk! Hmm hang on:

"Of all the topics discussed by all the groups gathered by all the lords on whom all the tenants depended upon, that [topic] that that [group] that that [lord] that that [particular tenant] depended on, had gathered, discussed, was moot. "

Or to put it another way, Olly's way:

"Of all the topics by all the groups by all the lords upon whom all the tenants depended, that which that whom that what that particular tenant depended on, had gathered, discussed, was moot."

Tell me it's not possible. You can do the same, with "service." A service service service is a service that provides a serving service to another service, and a service service service service is a service that services that service. It's fucking beautiful.