hi, I'm looking for people who would fill in the survey below for me. That's for my MA thesis and if you can help, please do it for me

MA thesis survey
- amusing ambiguity in English -



Your sex: a) M
b) F
Your age ..................................

Your occupation ..................................

Your nationality ...................................



1. What is ambiguity? How do you understand this term?

.........................................................................................................................................................................


2. Where does ambiguity appear most often:
a) in everyday conversations
*b) in media (series, movies, ads, shows, headlines, articles)
c) in literature
d) in politics
e) in law
f) in various documents (contracts, guarantee cards etc.)
* if you choose ‘b’, underline ONE in brackets


3. For what purposes is it used most frequently?
a) accidentally; mistakes, mistranslations
b) to deceive, to delude people
c) to ridicule something or someone, to mock
d) for humorous effect, to make people laugh
e) to avoid responsibility for something, to evade the law
f) to draw customers’ attention to an advertised product
g) to show the art and complexity of a language


4. Do you assess ambiguity as:
a) positive b) negative c) neutral – unimportant, trivial d) I don’t know


5. Can you provide the name of any English TV / radio show, book, magazine etc. which is famous for using humorous ambiguity?

........................................................................................................................................................................


6. Can you give an example of funny ambiguity? (ad, show, headline)

.........................................................................................................................................................................

7. Do humorous ambiguities draw your attention?
a) Yes, very often b) Sometimes c) Rarely d) No, never e) I don’t care


8. Do you think ambiguity is characteristic element of English sense of humour?
a) Yes, definitely b) Sometimes b) No c) I don’t know



9. For each ambiguous sentence provide 2 different interpretations:

a) The turkey is ready to eat.

.........................................................................vs. .......................................................................................
b) Visiting relatives can be boring.

.........................................................................vs. .......................................................................................
c) The thing that bothered Harry was crouching under the desk.

.........................................................................vs. ........................................................................................


10. For each of the following ambiguous words, give 2 synonymous words that are not themselves synonymous:
f.ex. bank – financial institution vs. a river bank

a) plane.................................. vs. .........................................
b) bark................................... vs. .........................................
c) rock................................... vs. ..........................................
d) line.................................... vs. ..........................................



11. For each of the following sentences, decide:
a) whether the sentence contains any ambiguous words, and
b) whether the sentence itself is ambiguous:

 A sole is a kind of fish. a) Yes / No b) Yes / No

 Danny said that he liked me on Saturday. a) Yes / No b) Yes / No

 Doctor had to decide on the bus. a) Yes / No b) Yes / No

 She is sleeping. a) Yes / No b) Yes / No


Which sentence is funny and why?..............................................................................................................




Thank you very much for your time and attention dedicated to filling my questionnaire !!!

you can fill it in bold or under my question, my address is cyna5@interia.pl

Where are you from, Marta? I ask because I need a clarification on this question:

8. Do you think ambiguity is characteristic element of English sense of humour?

Do you mean English as in English people from the U.K., English as in American English or, if you are in a country that does not have English as a primary language, English in general.

It is a common misconception, in non-English areas, that all English is the same.

a) Old. Technical investigation. Yank.
1. The potential for disparate interpretation. From experience.
2. d) [This is intentional]
3. e)
4. b) [but transmitter-convenient]
5. Yes. [e.g. the Bennie Hill Show]
6. Yes. [e.g. headline GRANDMOTHER OF THREE MAKES HOLE IN ONE]
7. a)
8. a)
9. a) Pudsy is cooked. / Pudsy is hungry.
b) Cousins can be dull. / Cousins sometimes drill holes in
things.
c) Harry loathed hiding. / Harry had a squirrel stalker.
10. a) skim / shave
b) skin / shout
c) stone / wobble
d) column / remark
11. No / No
Yes / Yes
Yes / Yes
No / No
#2. Temporal charm?

Your sex: Not often enough
Your Gender: Male
Your age Old enough to remember when Kennedy was assassinated
Your occupation Software Developer
Your nationality 'Merican (with a capital A)


1. What is ambiguity? How do you understand this term?

When the language or choice of words makes the meaning unclear in a manner that the multiple meanings are in opposition.

2. Where does ambiguity appear most often:
f) in various documents (contracts, guarantee cards etc.)


3. For what purposes is it used most frequently?
a) accidentally; mistakes, mistranslations

4. Do you assess ambiguity as:
c) neutral – unimportant, trivial

5. Can you provide the name of any English TV / radio show, book, magazine etc. which is famous for using humorous ambiguity?

Monty Python's Flying Circus

6. Can you give an example of funny ambiguity?
Headline: Iraq head seeks arms

7. Do humorous ambiguities draw your attention?
a) Yes, very often

8. Do you think ambiguity is characteristic element of English sense of humour?
a) Yes, definitely

9. For each ambiguous sentence provide 2 different interpretations:

a) The turkey is ready to eat.

The turkey, as food, is ready for consumption vs. the turky, as an animal, is ready to masticate

b) Visiting relatives can be boring.

The act of visiting your relatives provides little excitment vs. Relatives who visit you are uninteresting

c) The thing that bothered Harry was crouching under the desk.

There is somehting, unrevealed, crouching under Harry's desk that is bothering him vs. Harry, while crouching under his desk, is uncomfortable

10. For each of the following ambiguous words, give 2 synonymous words that are not themselves synonymous:
f.ex. bank – financial institution vs. a river bank

a) plane airplane vs. plateu b) bark growl vs. tree
c) rock sway vs. stone d) line sripe vs. align



11. For each of the following sentences, decide:
a) whether the sentence contains any ambiguous words, and
b) whether the sentence itself is ambiguous:

A sole is a kind of fish. a) Yes b) No

Danny said that he liked me on Saturday. a) Yes b) No

Doctor had to decide on the bus. a) Yes b) Yes

She is sleeping. a) No b) No


Which sentence is funny and why? Danny said he liked me on Saturday because, although the ambiguity is obviously unintentional, it provides a comical idea

>you can fill it in bold or under my question, my address is cyna5@interia.pl

which part of this statement makes it ambiguous as to *where you should answer the survey??

-joe (I'd have chosen email) friday

6. Here are some of the funnier ones:

STIFF OPPOSITION TO CASKETLESS FUNERAL PLAN
BANK DRIVE-IN WINDOW BLOCKED BY BOARD
HOSPITALS ARE SUED BY 7 FOOT DOCTORS
RED TAPE HOLDS UP NEW BRIDGE
TYPHOON RIPS THROUGH CEMETERY; HUNDREDS DEAD

thank you very much for your help!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a 34 year old female. If you mean an occupation as in a job or a talent, none. I am Eurasian half Korean half German.
Q1- I suppose I have always thought of ambiguity as a lack of or over compensation of one who has low self esteem. Never knowing quite what to say, not having a firm believe in what they say anyway

[list]
[*]null
Q2- I believe it is in everyday conversation. what the hell is the matter with saying I don/t know what that means. But for some reason we need to know everything, alot of people do. How sad that they go through life saying they understand but miss out on so much

Q3- I would have to say a b and e

Q4- b negative

Q5- Everybody Loves Raymond

Q6- Those concentration vitamins they sell on informercials

Q7-frequently
netly they use humor to cover their lack of true knowledge

Q9- a)mmm looks good / are you sure it's cooked all the way
b)same old stories / does grandpa even know who we are
c)he's getting so tall / why is he still dating that tramp

Q10- plane=airplane vs plain
bark=barking dog vs tree bark
rock=rocking vs rocks of dirt
line=standing in line vs line of poetry

Q11- yes and no
yes and no
no
no

And not to hurt your feelings but I really didn't get humor out of either sentence. Keep in mind that the depths of my stupidity at times are astonishing.[quote][/quote]

megg