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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Off-duty county deputy...June 17, 2005:
COMPTON (AP)-- An off-duty sheriff's deputy shot at robbers who took his wallet and held up a store at gunpoint Wednesday, authorities said
dalehileman
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Would Dale be obliquely commenting on the subject(s) of the verbal phrases in the cited sentence?
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Joined: Jul 2005
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jul 2005
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He might indeed
He's a very oblique person
dalehileman
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I've been asked if there's a name for this kind of ambiguity, and I'd like to know too
dalehileman
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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What's the ambiguity? Whether it's the sheriff or the deputy that's off duty?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
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if that's it, I never even considered that the sheriff is off duty. there'd have to be some convoluted context for that to have much significance in a report of an incident.
I guess I'm admitting to not seeing any ambiguity in place one..
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Joined: Jul 2005
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jul 2005
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Another correspondent admitted that he had to read it a half-dozen times before it dawned. Unfortunately, it loses its impact when you explain it:
An off-duty sheriff's deputy shot at robbers...and held up a store...
dalehileman
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Were they alive, my antecedents would have no problem with this, and I don't either. Those protesters who seek an anaphoric "who" after the word and are being just a tad picky.
TEd
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Quote:
… robbers who took his wallet and held up a store at gunpoint …
Seems pretty straight forward to me. Gotta twist and turn perty tortuously to make it ambiguous.
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member
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member
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All you need to do is diagram the sentence.
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