There is a special sentence in English, e.g. a lie is a lie is a lie, or a dollar is a dollar is a dollar. This kind of structure does not have a verb center. that a dollar is a dollar is a dollar means that the value of a dollar keeps constant no matter how you describe it in the financial field, but to me, a lie is a lie is a lie seems confusing.
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3a lie is a lie is a lie can also be bracketed as "a lie is a lie" is a lie, because the third lie can refer to the part in quotation marks. This is not possible with dollar. Does the confusion stem from there?– KeelanDec 13, 2022 at 10:42
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"A Dollar Is a Dollar Is a Dollar. Except in Our Minds." This is a real sentence I have collected. According to context, I can understand this. My confusion lies on the meaning of a lie is a lie is a lie because this one is context independent.– ShudongDec 19, 2022 at 15:05
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1I’m afraid I don’t see how context is more important in one than in the other, sorry.– KeelanDec 19, 2022 at 16:32
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1 Answer
While it is possible to force them into something parsable (especially the "lie" one, because it makes sense to describe the statement "a lie is a lie" as a lie), as they are usually used, they are not grammatical English sentences.
