How long can one continue a sentence such as: "I thought that you thought that I thought..."?

Question

Okay, this may sound like a weird question, however, every time I think about it, I cannot explain it to myself.

How many times can you repeat a sentence such as "I thought that you thought that I thought that you thought..." before it stops making sense? Well... not really stop making sense, but... when you repeat it enough times, how would you interpret it?

Of course, I realize that nobody would ever use that kind of repetition in a sentence, so I'm just speaking hypothetically.

if thats hard to understand then ill rephrase it this way:
Why is it that I am able to coherently say:

"I thought that you thought that I thought that you thought.."

however if I were to repeat it a few more times, the sentence simply isnt coherent. My question is why is true, and is there a name for it?

please keep any and all sarcasm to yourselves :)

Answer 1

Well, I don't know about the "I thought that you thought that I thought that YOU thought that I thought that YOU thought..." junk, but I do know another one: "I know that he knows that I know that he knows that I know." Sort of saying "I know he knows that I realize that he knows about me knowing about his secret." or whatever... you know?

Answer 2

One can continue such a sentence until one's listener falls asleep or walks away. However, after the first 'I thought that you thought that I thought" you are into repetitious overdrive and that sort of nonsense-speak can come under the term glossolalia.

Answer 3

I thought that you thought that I thought that the thought I thought you thought was your thought was a thought I had thought before you thought the thought was your thought.

Answer 4

I thought that you thought that "I thought that you thought", though when I thought what you thought, I thought that what you thought, was not the thought you and I thought of.

Answer 5

it could go on forever, but you after "I thought that you thought that I thought that you thought.." it has the same meaning so why go on.

Answer 6

When the thoughts become thoughtless and this isn't a sarcastic answer. :-)

Answer 7

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Answer 8

That simply doesn't make any sense.

Answer 9

it would get so complected that you could not follow which person was speaking

Answer 10

try it and tell me later