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Parsing Our Language

Posted by MadameX • 7/24/07 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic

Just a few lines from posts over the past couple of days--I only looked at a few threads and purposely didn't choose anything that created an UGLY impression:

You wanna get bitten? (Is that a proposition? Actually, it was a warning about being careful what you said in a public forum.)

I will rate Catwoman a close second. (As WORST comic to film adaptation, that is...but standing alone, it sounds like high praise)

for the month of july i only got $4.50 (Must have eaten a lot of ramen noodles that month...)

I generally just shoot on the weekends. (Pictures, that is)

I visited your site, but I'm not sure what I'm reading? (Sounds like quite a slam until you consider that the site referenced is not written in English)

I was fairly fluent in Spanish until I got married (And the dog ate your Spanish homework, right? The rest of the paragraph makes sense of this, but standing alone..?)

I'm pretty useless (in languages other than English)

User Comments

7/24/07

bromoluz

mmmmmm very rude text, but well, lol

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7/24/07

clioandme

A telling collection, indeed.

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7/24/07

ghostytwofish

"I only looked at a few threads and purposely didn't choose anything that created an UGLY impression" - Well, good to know we can let you wander the craft stores unattended!

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7/24/07

GrimlyFiendish

???????? I dont get the point of this thread apart from showing how you can chop a sentence up and make it mean something else. Is there a point? :S

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7/24/07

PrettyLady

Maybe she is trying to make the point that you can quote someone out of context and then again maybe not.

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7/24/07

GrimlyFiendish

Oh! Now I get it. Fair enough then Cheers Pretty lady

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7/24/07

clioandme

I think the collection of quotes also suggests that we should be a little less quick with our fingers. Sometimes we let our fingers type with no guidance from the brain.

Reminds me of my mother's always telling me, "Make sure you brain is in gear before you engage your mouth."

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7/24/07

starmedia

Ha, thanks for the breakdown. Very amusing.

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7/24/07

writingtrue

I see many misplaced modifers--I don't have a ready example, but sentences like this hypothetical one:

"I saw a deer on the way to the mall."

I wonder what she bought.

Writer

[reply]
1. 7/24/07
  
  MadameX
  
  I LOVE misplaced modifiers! When I was teaching ACT English, that was my very favorite lesson. "Served only at lunch, our chef makes a wonderful vegetable soup."
2. 7/24/07
  
  writingtrue
  
  That's excellent!
  
  My favorite for class is:
  
  "Coming around the corner, the Empire State Building greeted the newly arrived immigrants, then the tallest in the world."
  
  For squinting modifiers:
  
  "That he cleaned the car thoroughly pleased her."
  
  And for dangling modifiers:
  
  "Before riding the horses, all pets should be tethered."
  
  Writer
7/24/07

clioandme

I just put this on another thread, but it fits here too. What do you think of the following video by Taylor Mali (rated R)? I would love to post it for my students, but i'm sure it would rub a few people the wrong way. Maybe.
stoneman.tumblr.com/post/4087895

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