How cool is this?

Question

On an English test, the students were asked to describe the character Johnny's first car in the novel they had read.

Jimmy wrote, "Johnny had an Oldsmobile."
Timmy wrote, "Johnny had had an Oldsmobile."

Timmy, where Jimmy had had "had", had had "had had". "Had had" had had the intructor's approval.

11 hads in a row, all grammatically correct.

both students answered correctly, by the way

Answer 1

Fairly cool, but I tend to disagree with the instructor's and your claim that "had had" would be grammatically correct. "Had had" is the past perfect, and should only be used if there's another event mentioned or implied that happened in the more recent past. For example, if the question read "What car had Johnny had before he bought his Trans Am?" or if the novel was mainly about the time when he had his second car, "had had" would be appropriate.
Likewise, there's no indication of another past event after the teacher's approval being granted ("Had had" had had the instructor's approval until she read AlpineAlli's post.)

Answer 2

To your question, I guess I'd say "very cool".

About the only thing I can add is ... I guess "bookkeeping" is the only English word with three consecutive double letters.

Answer 3

so did jimmy get that one wrong? i got the "hads" that was cool. :]

Answer 4

It's cool, but in plenty of riddle books......

Answer 5

Very cool.

Answer 6

i had to read that a couple of times to get it. thats funny!

Answer 7

wow u get impressed easily...it is kinda fun tho

Answer 8

Way Kool !

Answer 9

I don't suppose you suppose I suppose I know, am I suppose to know?. I'm so opposed.

Answer 10

way cool