Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path
Re: Cheese that smells
Cameron Diaz Encourages Women to Keep Their Pubic Hair in Her New Book
- KathTheDragon
- Smeric
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Re: Cheese that smells
That's a good one!
Re: Cheese that smells
There's no better place! My mom always puts leaves and flowers in big books that are rarely read. Why not preserve your pubes for posterity?
— o noth sidiritt Tormiott
Re: Cheese that smells
inb4 shm jaydin wrote:posterity
Re: Cheese that smells
Bitcoin exchange files for bankruptcy
Somehow I managed to read this as "An entity named 'Bitcoin' gave someone some files in exchange for bankruptcy."
Somehow I managed to read this as "An entity named 'Bitcoin' gave someone some files in exchange for bankruptcy."
- KathTheDragon
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Re: Cheese that smells
I did that too.
Re: Cheese that smells
Multiple paths from here:
"The founder’s wife discussed in the media reports has never had hiring or firing power at GitHub and will no longer be permitted in the office"
1) Interpreted "founder's" as "founder is", as "founder" was the topic
2) Thought that the founder's wife had "discussed [something] in the media", while instead she was discussed
3) While backtracking after "reports" made the reading "discussed in the media" impossible, assumed the wife discussed in the media reported something
JAL
"The founder’s wife discussed in the media reports has never had hiring or firing power at GitHub and will no longer be permitted in the office"
1) Interpreted "founder's" as "founder is", as "founder" was the topic
2) Thought that the founder's wife had "discussed [something] in the media", while instead she was discussed
3) While backtracking after "reports" made the reading "discussed in the media" impossible, assumed the wife discussed in the media reported something
JAL
- Risla
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Re: Cheese that smells
Parents who starve children of love face jail
It took me a few seconds to figure out that this isn't about people depriving their lovechildren of food.
It took me a few seconds to figure out that this isn't about people depriving their lovechildren of food.
Re: Cheese that smells
you love face jail!
<Anaxandridas> How many artists do you know get paid?
<Anaxandridas> Seriously, name five.
<Anaxandridas> Seriously, name five.
Re: Cheese that smells
Courtesy of Language Log, the first crash blossom of the 2014 baseball season: Mets Blow a Save and Fan 18 Times in Opening Loss.
[For those confused as to the intended meaning, "fan" is sports jargon for "strike out".]
[For those confused as to the intended meaning, "fan" is sports jargon for "strike out".]
- Risla
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Re: Cheese that smells
Just swooping in to bring up this one: Police make Syria appeal to UK women.
- Salmoneus
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Re: Cheese that smells
Damnit, I saw that one but didn't spot the double meaning until you mentioned it.
This one confused me, though:
Scot already in Spurs' bad books over TWO red cards and a pair of separate nasty fouls on Bale crocked the Brazilian in December
Turns out it's "[the] Scot crocked the Brazilian in December" with a large and confusing unindicated relative clause thrust up into the middle.
This one confused me, though:
Scot already in Spurs' bad books over TWO red cards and a pair of separate nasty fouls on Bale crocked the Brazilian in December
Turns out it's "[the] Scot crocked the Brazilian in December" with a large and confusing unindicated relative clause thrust up into the middle.
Blog: [url]http://vacuouswastrel.wordpress.com/[/url]
But the river tripped on her by and by, lapping
as though her heart was brook: Why, why, why! Weh, O weh
I'se so silly to be flowing but I no canna stay!
But the river tripped on her by and by, lapping
as though her heart was brook: Why, why, why! Weh, O weh
I'se so silly to be flowing but I no canna stay!
Re: Cheese that smells
The editors caught it too. It now reads "Police make Syria plea to UK Muslim women". Which is still a bit odd.Risla wrote:Just swooping in to bring up this one: Police make Syria appeal to UK women.
JAL
Re: Cheese that smells
For the non-Brits (and especially the Americans): "crocked" doesn't mean "to be intoxicated", but is a transitive verb meaning "to injure". I didn't have much trouble with the sentence though.Salmoneus wrote:Scot already in Spurs' bad books over TWO red cards and a pair of separate nasty fouls on Bale crocked the Brazilian in December
Turns out it's "[the] Scot crocked the Brazilian in December" with a large and confusing unindicated relative clause thrust up into the middle.
JAL
- Salmoneus
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Re: Cheese that smells
Specifically "to render unfit to play". Somebody who is crocked either can't be picked for a competition, or is picked but turns out to be massively below-par due to an injury (although I think I've also seen it used wrt mental injuries). Normally it's just found as an adjective describing the injuried party.
Blog: [url]http://vacuouswastrel.wordpress.com/[/url]
But the river tripped on her by and by, lapping
as though her heart was brook: Why, why, why! Weh, O weh
I'se so silly to be flowing but I no canna stay!
But the river tripped on her by and by, lapping
as though her heart was brook: Why, why, why! Weh, O weh
I'se so silly to be flowing but I no canna stay!
Re: Cheese that smells
I see. I still had to reread it 5 times before I got it.
— o noth sidiritt Tormiott
Re: Cheese that smells
Well, the "already" automatically triggers a subordinate clause, and the whole run from "already" to "Bale" has no garden path possibility, I think? And even without knowing what "crocked" means, it's clearly the main verb as "on" renders it the reading "Bale crocked" impossible.din wrote:I see. I still had to reread it 5 times before I got it.
JAL
Re: Cheese that smells
confusion arises because "already" doesn't necessarily trigger a subordinate clause here. remember this is Headline Register, in which dropped copulas are common; by the time you've assumed "(the) Scot (is) already in Spurs' bad books..." you're off in the wrong directionjal wrote:Well, the "already" automatically triggers a subordinate clause, and the whole run from "already" to "Bale" has no garden path possibility, I think?
<Anaxandridas> How many artists do you know get paid?
<Anaxandridas> Seriously, name five.
<Anaxandridas> Seriously, name five.
Re: Cheese that smells
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Suspends Campaign to Seek Help
- KathTheDragon
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Re: Cheese that smells
Where's the other meaning in that one? All I can get is that Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto, suspended a campaign.
Re: Cheese that smells
He's either suspending a campaign so that he can get some help, or he is suspending a campaign intended to get help.
- Salmoneus
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Re: Cheese that smells
"War between two axes"
Blog: [url]http://vacuouswastrel.wordpress.com/[/url]
But the river tripped on her by and by, lapping
as though her heart was brook: Why, why, why! Weh, O weh
I'se so silly to be flowing but I no canna stay!
But the river tripped on her by and by, lapping
as though her heart was brook: Why, why, why! Weh, O weh
I'se so silly to be flowing but I no canna stay!
Re: Cheese that smells
Man, that one's really good because even the misreading makes sense.
- KathTheDragon
- Smeric
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Re: Cheese that smells
Is 'axes' meant to be a verb? That's the only way I can make it make sense, but even then, it still doesn't seem right.