Syntactic Ambiguity

Think About It. Syntactic Ambiguity. In the recent fall tribute to Pilgrims and Indians I added a post script borrowed from bold headline of a major paper, TURKEY SHOOTS DOWN RUSSIAN PLANE. The popular journalism name for this is “crash blossom”, named by Danny Bloom (no kidding) for The Testy Copy Editors. It joins the “garden path” school of sentence that leads you to head in one direction and seduces you into a surprising conclusion. Mr. Bloom’s need to name was prompted by the story slug “Violinist linked to JAL crash blossoms.” Cunning linguists say this is caused by omitting the copula, such as “to be”. Seems to me Hamlet had too much to say on that subject, especially the closing line, “Be all my sins remembered.”

In a tribute to the birthday of her esteemed? father, Laura Lee sent an oversized card featuring the Wizard of Id agreeing that “The peasants are revolting.” But before we get too deep in the word weeds, we should recognize Susie Dawes, apparently a regular reader, Thinker and Wordy who prompted this aimless outing by submitting for Sage consideration the ever popular Paraprosdokian (Greek etymology, “against expectation”). Any friend of Churchill is a friend of mine, and Sir Winston loved a surprise ending. Try his tribute to the member of British Parliament whom he described as “a modest man who has much to be modest about.” Aristotle joined the fun with “On his feet he wore …..blisters.”

You may find a favorite in this random list.

Stephen Colbert offered “If I am reading this graph correctly—I’d be very surprised.” A.
Nonny Mousse said, “The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.” “Where there’s a will, I want to be in it.” Many have requested credit until the will is read. Homer Simpson contributed, “If I could just say a few words… I’d be a better public speaker.” My mother was most fond of “On the other hand, she had warts.” Daughter Jill does not like the likes of “Throw mama from the train …… a kiss”.” Youngest female in the Weaver clan, Shari seems at peace, even when faced with a failing of parsing integrity.

The varied versions of the English language Americans use, with the disparate origins and regional colloquialisms form a marvelously living language. Whether we like it or not, pronunciation and meaning change with every word spoken. When twisted for fun It is even easier to paint pictures in the most vivid colors and subtle nuances of imagery. Imagine this. “The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it’s still on the list.” It has been said, “Some cause happiness wherever they go. Others — whenever they go.” I think I hear a hint here. Probably the most famous paraprosdokian sentence is Henny Youngman’s “Take my wife – please!” The punch may be structured for surprise, but you can’t accuse the famous comedian of using Syntactic Ambiguity. Think About It.

 

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