Talk:2793: Garden Path Sentence

The bot didn't upload the most recent comic so I tried to do it myself, but I think I screwed it up :(Szeth Pancakes (talk) 18:31, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

I think the term "bird strikes" should be interpreted as a plural noun, given the two Xs on the map. Something like "After bird strikes, judge ... overturned but rights and lands safely" 172.69.59.8 20:30, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

Or it could be the bird strikes judge... You know, the one who was the judge in an important and well-known "bird strikes" case, possibly environmental, possibly an insurance scam case or something.Thisfox (talk) 21:46, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

I don't think the current interpretation is wrong, but "olive garden" could be the lower-case-when-not-a-comics-headline descriptor for, you know, an actual garden of olive trees. That makes more sense when referring to green walkways. Nitpicking (talk) 20:33, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

Can someone also parse the alt-text? I still can't figure it out. -162.158.154.176 20:39, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

I think it's saying the arboretum owner (who is appealing the case) is himself appealing. I'm still having trouble with the grounds grounds portion though. :(*anonymouse* (talk) 20:48, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

He was appealing the lawsuit on the grounds that the grounds were appealing Ahecht (talk) 22:06, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

Going by the picture I think the "bird" that struck the judge may be the plane.

Disagree, "bird strike" is a term used for an incident where a bird strikes a vehicle, usually a plane. 172.70.211.155 20:50, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

But all these conflicting interpretations proves Randall's point that this is a garden path sentence :) Natg19 (talk) 20:52, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

*anonymouse* please reconsider your edits; before them, I think I understood the meaning, but your supposed clarification messed it up :( the paragraph you removed seemed more plausible to me, and it also contained some useful wiki links to bird strike and vacated judgement. Torzsmokus (talk) 20:47, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

As I understood it, birds hit the plane piloted by the judge that gave the Olive Garden path sentence, overturning it (!!!), but he righted it and managed to land. J Petry (talk) 20:49, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

A wikipedia:bird strike is an aviation thing. Given the airplane in the photo and the path to what appears to be runways, I think that these are the bird strikes it's referring to. "Rights and lands safely" also would refer to the judge piloting an airplane. "Overturned" thus should also refer to the flight, but I would expect it to be something like "overturns", not "overturned", given "rights and lands". Thus: "After bird strikes, the judge who ordered the sentence overturned in the olive garden path case, his plane overturned, but rights the aircraft and lands it safely." SheeEttin (talk) 20:53, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

I see what you're saying, and I think you're right. After (multiple) bird strikes the (plane being flown by the judge) overturned but was able to right itself. :(*anonymouse* (talk) 20:57, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

I feel certain that "olive" refers to the shade of green, because otherwise why specify "green" walkways? This makes "Olive Garden" a red herring, which seems likely. -- 108.162.245.244 21:01, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

I disagree. I read "olive garden" as a literal garden of olive trees. Randall is exploiting our familiarity with the Olive Garden restaurant to construct the sentence. The path would be a footpath or something through this garden. What makes the walkways green? No idea, maybe they're the kind that are actually solar panels. SheeEttin (talk) 22:10, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

I would interpret "green walkway" as meaning a picturesque walkway going through a forest, public gardens, or similar, which fits in with the olive trees. Searching for the term on Wikipedia suggests this expression is more commonly used in England than in the US. Hmj (talk) 05:29, 24 June 2023 (UTC)

I still don't like "overturned but rights and lands" - why would the first verb be in the past tense and the others present tense, if they are describing events that happened within a very short time of each other? 162.158.159.102 05:10, 24 June 2023 (UTC)

I had understood that an actual flying animal - a bird - bounced off the judge's head - in present tense, the bird strikes the judge - which made it flip over, but it managed to right itself and properly land, as if that's important. I honestly feel like this interpretation of "bird" makes more sense than an airplane being involved. Also that it adds humour, since how is the bird important enough to care that it recovered, and care ENOUGH that it should be mentioned in the headline. :) (I hadn't gotten around to trying to figure out the rest, felt too difficult until I read the concept of a garden path sentence) NiceGuy1 (talk) 07:03, 24 June 2023 (UTC)