As recently coined by New Scientist, semiopathy is (as now defined at PseudoDictionary.com): The syndrome of deriving a meaning from a sign which is not that which was originally intended. New Scientist has collected some semiopathic signage here: http://makeashorterlink.com/?F2C265742.

and has introduced subtypes: the “time-flies,” the “domain-specific,” and the “serendipitous.”

I would like to introduce a cousin, the non-sign semiopathic statement. Two recent examples:

A headline from the Lansing State Journal on 10/29/02:

N.C. pageant contestant gets shot at ‘World’ title

From a recently released appellate court decision:

The federal appeals court also remanded the issue whether Microsoft had illegally tied its browser and operating systems to the federal district court.