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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
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>(sink gunboat) and hole cruiser..
that is, they put a hole in it but it hasn't sunk (yet). -ron o.
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 171
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Joined: Jan 2003
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I recalled seeing a list of humorous headlines long ago and in my search came across this site: <http://www.ccl.umist.ac.uk/teaching/material/headlines-ans.html> One headline included in this collection also relates to the Brit/Argie conflict: BRITISH LEFT WAFFLES ON FALKLANDS
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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Of course, that had to be an USn headline or it wouldn't have been ambiguous.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
It's parallel to the verb sink:
Our lads sink gunboat and hole cruiser Ah--headline English! Got it (finally), thanks! Re: JH's headline--did they leave any syrup, too?
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I would like to go on record as saying that I think it's parbly a tad early to be picking the century's ---st anythang.
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Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Re:did they leave any syrup, too?
I've never heard of putting grenidine on waffles!
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 171
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An interesting thing about the site which lists the headlines (a Brit site, by the way) is that it is used as a grammar teaching tool, explaining in grammatical terms why each of the headlines is subject to humorous interpretation. In the case of the British Waffles:
"BRITISH LEFT WAFFLES ON FALKLAND ISLANDS Double category ambiguity (noun vs verb) for left and waffles. Of interest is that to an American reader, the sentence is not ambiguous, but bizarre, since American English does not have a verb waffle meaning 'prattle', so the only possible reading is the one where left is the verb."
(Not sure we'd get agreement on that statement, since I have heard the term "waffle", connoting vacillation, all my American adult life)
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