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I've recently heard that: “Iambs are much more common in the English language than you might think — recent studies have shown that they appear over 100 times more than chickens, pigs and cows in literature.”

As baffling as it may sound, this is true. Can you explain this phenomenon?

Hint:

Shakespeare

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    $\begingroup$ You're right: this is baaaaaaaaaaaffling. $\endgroup$
    – Ian MacDonald
    Commented Apr 6, 2016 at 11:42

3 Answers 3

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It is true that

iambs

are much more common in the English language than chickens, pigs, and cows because

iambs are a type of metrical foot used often in the English language

In fact,

iambic pentameters are natural to English

You are referring to this term because

Although you capitalized the first letter of 'iambs' to make it look like an 'l', in actuality you used an 'i'

Hint:

Shakespearean verses and poetry use iambic pentameters extensively.

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    $\begingroup$ Correct - nice one. $\endgroup$
    – Shuri2060
    Commented Apr 5, 2016 at 22:30
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    $\begingroup$ What about Shakespeare ? $\endgroup$
    – Fabich
    Commented Apr 5, 2016 at 22:31
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Because they are writers called Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb (the Lambs), their name is on a lot of books.
I don't know any writer called chicken, pig or cow
Hint : They wrote Tales from Shakespear

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  • $\begingroup$ No, sorry - not the answer I'm looking for. $\endgroup$
    – Shuri2060
    Commented Apr 5, 2016 at 22:30
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    $\begingroup$ @QuestionAsker ahah seriously !? What are the odds that 2 persons called Lamb wrote a book together with "Shakespeare" in the title ^^ $\endgroup$
    – Fabich
    Commented Apr 5, 2016 at 22:34
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    $\begingroup$ @Lordofdark Quite high actually, seeing as they're siblings. $\endgroup$
    – Funnybix
    Commented Apr 6, 2016 at 8:08
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    $\begingroup$ And...let me guess...after she gave birth, Mary had a little Lamb..? :-) $\endgroup$
    – Bob Jarvis - Слава Україні
    Commented Apr 6, 2016 at 12:12
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Does it perhaps refer to

iamb ( a metrical foot used in various types of poetry.) with a capital 'I'.

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