Can you write a paragraph containing one hundred words, or longer, in which none is used more than once? Separate forms of the same term, such as singular and plural, are impermissible.
The above paragraph is only 32 words, and even that was not easy!
quote:Can you write a paragraph containing one hundred words, or longer, in which none is used more than once?
That should be easy enough, although probably poor stylistically. "None" can be used in several ways. However, why call the thread "The non-repetition challenge" if you want us to repeat "none"?
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Never repeat words? I can barely get through short periods of time without similar stories flowing from my mouth. Hubby often says one phrase whenever we drive down state route 161 because he has never eaten at Bill Knapp's restaurant. Running gags are so enjoyable that we will share only punch lines for jokes, yet everyone laughs or chuckles, knowing the preceding humor. This essay may yet reach as outstanding a number, however creativity could fail before then. Perhaps running prose through Word and Exel would aid in counting all phrases, ensuring unique constructions. Avoiding duplicate articles was entirely most difficult.
****** I'm ready for the critics! I think I did it, but I'm sure closer inspection will show my failings.
******* "Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions. ~Dalai Lama
Try as he might, a novelist will never mask himself. Total anonymity is not possible. Personal style being by definition unique, one's range of variation necessarily cannot ever be unlimited, and therefore duplication inevitably insinuates itself into prose. Careful writers naturally make every effort at varying their tone to avert monotony: they instinctively adopt distinctive voices or diction for each speaking character; some sentences are long, others short; pacing changes. Yet notwithstanding all best diligence, no author could successfully avoid creating recognizable patterns in his oeuvre. The underlying language gives him away. I use this rare term frequently, while you employ another. With simple word count, any reader can readily distinguish my work from yours.
Hic, I would love to partake in your catchy, addictive logophile games, but they are always too d*mn hard! One just finds it incredibly, mind-numbingly difficult and simply cannot keep up with such wonderful sparky talent as shown by Shufitz etc. Being currently creatively-challenged, herewith probably the best Cat can do.
Incidentally, is repetition of that which normally precedes “two” OK if their meanings differentiate? How about verb conjugations, irregular or not, e.g. go, goes, going; walk, walked? Opposites involving similar letters, even encapsulating identical words: possible; impossible? Hmmm… much more thought needed from me – will my goal be achieved?
There's a way to check duplicate words without going "boss-eyed" (new phrase to me, that). With the text on your wordprocessor (I'm putting in brackets the keys you'll use if your wordprocessor is Microsoft Word):
Separate the text into a list of words. (With find-and-replace [CNTRL-H], replace every space with a paragraph-mark.¹)
Alphabetize the list. (Paint it [CNTRL-A] and then sort what you painted [ALT-A].)
It's then easy to eyeball the ordered list for any duplicates.
Alternatively, the computer can find duplicates for you if you continue thus:
- Again with find-and-replace, replace each paragraph mark with a space - A spellcheck [F7] will alert you to any repeated words.
¹To get the paragraph mark, hit More if needed to get the Special button, then hit that button.This message has been edited. Last edited by: shufitz,
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