Editing 2793: Garden Path Sentence
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | A {{w|garden-path sentence}} is one in which the first or most obvious attempt at parsing the beginning of a sentence leads to the wrong meaning, causing confusion when the sentence is completed. A classic example of a garden path sentence is "The old man the boat.", leading to an initial incorrect parsing of "the old man" as a noun phrase, and therefore to assuming there is no verb before the noun "the boat". The actual correct way to parse this sentence is to treat "the old" as a noun and "man" as a verb, meaning "to | + | {{incomplete|Created by a bot then modified by new editors. Please add information here regarding what remains to be done for the article. After sufficient extended time, the tag may be removed if all material is included.}} |
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+ | A {{w|garden-path sentence}} is one in which the first or most obvious attempt at parsing the beginning of a sentence leads to the wrong meaning, causing confusion when the sentence is completed. A classic example of a garden path sentence is "The old man the boat.", leading to an initial incorrect parsing of "the old man" as a noun phrase, and therefore to assuming there is no verb before the noun "the boat". The actual correct way to parse this sentence is to treat "the old" as a noun and "man" as a verb, meaning "to work at, run, or operate", so the sentence means "The old people operate the boat." | ||
Possible grammatically correct interpretations of the sentences in this comic are: | Possible grammatically correct interpretations of the sentences in this comic are: | ||
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# "[[wikipedia:Legal case|case]] of [[wikipedia:Greenway (landscape)|green walkways]]": The punishment was in a court case about shared-use walkways (likely the same paths listed above, which may have been placed in an olive garden) | # "[[wikipedia:Legal case|case]] of [[wikipedia:Greenway (landscape)|green walkways]]": The punishment was in a court case about shared-use walkways (likely the same paths listed above, which may have been placed in an olive garden) | ||
− | + | Another way to break it down is, "After [the] bird strikes, [the] judge... [is] overturned, but [he] rights and lands safely." And he was "[the] judge who ordered [that the] olive garden-path sentence" (the legal sentence concerning a path in an olive garden) "in" (what is known as) "[the] Case of [the] Green Walkways [be] vacated." | |
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− | Another way to break it down is, "After [the] bird strikes, [the] judge... [is] overturned, but [ | ||
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This comic also pokes fun at newspaper headlines, which typically have minimal punctuation or articles and use only capital letters, leading to such ambiguities. | This comic also pokes fun at newspaper headlines, which typically have minimal punctuation or articles and use only capital letters, leading to such ambiguities. | ||
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A mostly similar, but slightly more comical interpretation (though less likely for a newspaper headline) can be: | A mostly similar, but slightly more comical interpretation (though less likely for a newspaper headline) can be: | ||
− | After (a) bird strikes, (the) judge ... (as above) (is) overturned, but rights and lands safely. In this case, the judge is standing, a bird strikes | + | After (a) bird strikes, (the) judge ... (as above) (is) overturned, but rights and lands safely. In this case, the judge is standing, a bird strikes him and he is overturned, but he manages to right himself and land safely on the ground (not banging his head, for instance). |
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Certain combinations of words in the sentence are particularly easy to parse incorrectly. For example: | Certain combinations of words in the sentence are particularly easy to parse incorrectly. For example: | ||
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* "bird strikes judge" can be interpreted to mean that a bird deliberately hit the judge with an appendage or weapon. If bird is a person or other worker, the phrase might mean a labour dispute in which Bird is withdrawing services | * "bird strikes judge" can be interpreted to mean that a bird deliberately hit the judge with an appendage or weapon. If bird is a person or other worker, the phrase might mean a labour dispute in which Bird is withdrawing services | ||
* "Olive Garden" is the name of a restaurant chain, and "ordered Olive Garden" could mean "placed an order for food from Olive Garden" | * "Olive Garden" is the name of a restaurant chain, and "ordered Olive Garden" could mean "placed an order for food from Olive Garden" | ||
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* "Garden path sentence" is a type of (written language) sentence | * "Garden path sentence" is a type of (written language) sentence | ||
* "Green" could be referring to "green" initiatives, environmentally-friendly practices being used or to the color green, rather than to a park area | * "Green" could be referring to "green" initiatives, environmentally-friendly practices being used or to the color green, rather than to a park area | ||
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* The plural of "land", a common issue in legal proceedings | * The plural of "land", a common issue in legal proceedings | ||
− | The title text is also an example of a garden path sentence. The meaning is probably the following: Arboretum owner, [who was] denied [legal] standing in [the] garden-path [law]suit on grounds (the reason) [that the garden] grounds [are] appealing, [is] appealing [the ruling] | + | The title text is also an example of a garden path sentence. The meaning is probably the following: Arboretum owner, [who was] denied [legal] standing in [the] garden-path [law]suit on grounds (the reason) [that the garden] grounds [are] appealing, [is] appealing [the ruling] |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== |