Ambiguous Syntax: Difference between revisions

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'''Cordelia''': Wow... so, what's a rogue demon?|''[[Angel (TV)|Angel]]'', "Parting Gifts"}}

A simple statement becomes a bit of wordplay caused by an unclear use of a modifier. This is also known as a "[~~http://en.~~wikipedia~~.org/wiki/Syntactic_ambiguity~~ syntactic ambiguity]" or "[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/squinting%20construction squinting construction]".

A simple statement becomes a bit of wordplay caused by an unclear use of a modifier. This is also known as a "[[wikipedia:Syntactic ambiguity|syntactic ambiguity]]" or "[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/squinting%20construction squinting construction]".

This typically occurs through the use of multiple nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc, in the same sentence, in such a way that it's difficult or even ''impossible'' to determine which adjective, verb, etc, applies to each noun. As a result, it's possible to interpret the sentence as having two or more meanings which are sufficiently different that the difference could potentially be very important to the reader or the plot. In some cases, there is only only one technically, grammatically, or logically correct interpretation, but it's so easy to misinterpret or mis-write that most people end up getting it wrong at first. In other cases, multiple interpretations are arguably grammatically correct.

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On a more serious note, however, ambiguous syntax is sometimes used in false advertising so that the advertiser can claim they explained everything, and it was the consumer's fault for misinterpreting the statement. Likewise, in myth and legend, prophecy often includes ambiguous syntax, to make it more difficult to determine the exact details of a predicted event until it actually occurs. It is especially abused by the [[Literal Genie]], to grant a wish in a way not intended by the speaker.

[[The Other Wiki]] lists more examples [~~http://en.~~wikipedia~~.org/wiki/List_of_linguistic_example_sentences~~ here]. Note that this is easier to pull off in English than in most other languages, because English has neither grammatical genders (in French, for example, you would know that the feminine adjectives could only apply to the feminine noun) nor cases (in German, you would know that the dative adjectives could only apply to the indirect object of the sentence), leaving a lot more room for ambiguity.

[[The Other Wiki]] lists more examples [[wikipedia:List of linguistic example sentences|here]]. Note that this is easier to pull off in English than in most other languages, because English has neither grammatical genders (in French, for example, you would know that the feminine adjectives could only apply to the feminine noun) nor cases (in German, you would know that the dative adjectives could only apply to the indirect object of the sentence), leaving a lot more room for ambiguity.

Subtrope to [[Double Meaning]]. Compare [[Wanton Cruelty to The Common Comma]], [[Prophecy Twist]], [[False Reassurance]], [[Exact Words]], [[Confusing Multiple Negatives]], and [[I Know You Know I Know]].

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== [[Literature]] ==

* From ''[~~http://en.~~wikipedia~~.org/wiki/The_Elements_of_Style~~ The Elements of Style]'':

* From ''[[wikipedia:The Elements of Style|The Elements of Style]]'':

{{quote| New York's first commercial human-sperm bank opened Friday with semen samples from eighteen men frozen in a stainless steel tank.<br />

(...) In the lefthand version of the third example, the reader's heart goes out to those 18 poor fellows frozen in a steel tank. }}

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* Paul Merton likes to use this trope on ''[[Have I Got News for You]]''. For example, when he was asked to complete the headline "(BLANK) flies off without warning", he suggested "Spider scares..." and "[[Bill Clinton|Clinton's...]]".

* In ''[[Blackadder Goes Forth]]'', Bob Parkhurst [[Sweet Polly Oliver|disguises herself as a man]] because she "want[s] to see how a war is fought so badly." Edmund informs her that she has come to the right place, as [[General Failure|the war is being fought very badly indeed]].

* ''[[~~Doctor Who (TV)|~~Doctor Who]]'' has a pretty good one: "[[I Don't Like the Sound of That Place|Demon's Run]] -- When a good man goes to War" versus [[Beware the Nice Ones|"Demons run when a good man goes to war"]]

* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has a pretty good one: "[[I Don't Like the Sound of That Place|Demon's Run]] -- When a good man goes to War" versus [[Beware the Nice Ones|"Demons run when a good man goes to war"]]

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Heh, gotta give him credit; he did ''exactly'' what I said<br />

Cuz the second that I nodded... HE HIT ME IN THE HEAD! }}

* [[Weird Al Yankovic (Music)|Weird Al Yankovic]]'s "Jurassic Park" has the line "A huge Tyrannosaurus ate our lawyer/Well I suppose that proves/They're really not all bad." The ambiguity is whether the T-Rex isn't all bad, for disposing of a lawyer, or the lawyer isn't all bad, either for providing sustenance/another target, or in the "not un-tasty" sense. [http://www.weirdal.com/aaarchive.htm#1298 Al says] he left it ambiguous on purpose.

* [["Weird Al" Yankovic (Music)|Weird Al Yankovic]]'s "Jurassic Park" has the line "A huge Tyrannosaurus ate our lawyer/Well I suppose that proves/They're really not all bad." The ambiguity is whether the T-Rex isn't all bad, for disposing of a lawyer, or the lawyer isn't all bad, either for providing sustenance/another target, or in the "not un-tasty" sense. [http://www.weirdal.com/aaarchive.htm#1298 Al says] he left it ambiguous on purpose.

** there used to be a quiz you could take on his website. One of the questions asked which of the following sentences is ambiguous. The correct answer was "I was driving down the freeway with a rabid wolverine in my underwear." Is there a rabid wolverine stuffed down Al's pants, or is Al sharing a car with a wolverine who's wearing his underwear?

*** [[Take a Third Option|Or did he stuff a rabid wolverine into the underwear that he (Al) was wearing at the time?]]

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== [[Web Comics]] ==

* ''[[Dinosaur Comics (Webcomic)|Dinosaur Comics]]'': T-Rex riffs on a classic example (known as a [~~http://en.~~wikipedia~~.org/wiki/Garden_path_sentence~~ garden-path sentence]): "[http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=204 The horse raced past the barn fell]".

* ''[[Dinosaur Comics (Webcomic)|Dinosaur Comics]]'': T-Rex riffs on a classic example (known as a [[wikipedia:Garden path sentence|garden-path sentence]]): "[http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=204 The horse raced past the barn fell]".

* ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|The Order of the Stick]]'' uses a similar garden-path sentence early on in its first arc: "When the goat turns red strikes true."

* Used cunningly in [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comics/stolen-pixels/5372-Stolen-Pixels-29-The-Letter-Home this] ''[[Stolen Pixels]]'', lampooning [[Tabula Rasa]]:

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[[Category:Language Tropes]]

[[Category:Ambiguous Syntax]]

[[Category:Trope]]