Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by Vijay »

linguoboy wrote:All depends how they do it.
The story as I know it is as follows:

Sage Vyasa said to Lord Ganesha, "Can you write down the Mahabharata for me while I dictate it to you?"
Ganesha said, "Yes, but I write very fast, so you have to dictate as fast as I write, and I won't stop until the end. If you pause in the middle, then I'll stop writing, and your story will remain incomplete. Do you agree to my conditions?"
Vyasa said, "Yes, but only if you always make sure to understand what I dictate to you before writing it down."
Ganesha agreed. His older brother warned Vyasa that Ganesha writes and thinks faster than we speak (I believe "we" refers to both humans and deities. I'm kind of forgetting the part about how fast exactly he said Ganesha thinks). Vyasa said, "I know. That's why I need his help."

They went to Sage Vyasa's home together, sat down, and started writing and dictating. Several days passed by, but Ganesha was writing so fast Vyasa couldn't even stop to catch his breath. Weeks and months passed by. Then suddenly, Vyasa remembered his own condition and composed a difficult sloka. Ganesha had to pause for a moment to think about what it meant, and Vyasa felt relieved that he could finally get a bit of rest. However, the very next moment, Ganesha started writing again. This went on for even more weeks (or months?) until they reached the end. Ganesha said, "Your story is interesting, and you tell it very skillfully, but there are a few parts here and there that are difficult to understand." Vyasa said, "You know why those parts are there!"

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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by mèþru »

Just hire George Watsky to recite it. (May require fortune)
ìtsanso, God In The Mountain, may our names inspire the deepest feelings of fear in urkos and all his ilk, for we have saved another man from his lies! I welcome back to the feast hall kal, who will never gamble again! May the eleven gods bless him!
kårroť

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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by linguoboy »

I've read this over six times already and I'm still not sure if the intention is simply to say that the restaurant is located in Chicago or that the cuisine is influenced by restaurants located in Chicago.
Kitsune is a Japanese ramen restaurant inspired by Midwestern bounty and influenced by home-style Japanese cuisine located in Chicago.

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Pole, the
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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by Pole, the »

linguoboy wrote:I've read this over six times already and I'm still not sure if the intention is simply to say that the restaurant is located in Chicago or that the cuisine is influenced by restaurants located in Chicago.
Kitsune is a Japanese ramen restaurant inspired by Midwestern bounty and influenced by home-style Japanese cuisine located in Chicago.
I'd rather say the former. The latter would require ‘Japanese cuisine located in Chicago’ to be a phrase, and it sounds weird to me (‘cuisine’ is an abstract noun, it can't be “located” anywhere).

But then I'm not a native English speaker.
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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by Vijay »

I agree with the Pole.

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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by Salmoneus »

A headline that points out some deficiencies with English typography and/or punctuation (and/or decorum conventions)...

Labrador to run for Idaho governor.

I knew the Americans had labradors as mayors in some towns, but governor of a state? Isn't that a bit too much?

Unless, of course, the labrador is literally running for the governor of Idaho. Fetching a ball, perhaps? Or is it representing him in the annual inter-gubernatorial sports day?
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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by Io »

Valuable Hides Put Tajik Donkeys In The Crosshairs

I wasn't aware of this meaning of 'hide', so it was confusing.

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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by jal »

Io wrote:I wasn't aware of this meaning of 'hide', so it was confusing.
I got it when you mentioned "hide" :). I knew this meaning, but the verbal one is so much more common...


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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by Vijay »

I immediately understood what "hides" meant but don't see "in the crosshairs" often enough to intuitively remember what that means.

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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by linguoboy »

No holy drops on tsar bust, Church says (BBC)

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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by jal »

linguoboy wrote:No holy drops on tsar bust, Church says (BBC)
I read that as "the Church prohibits applying holy drops to the tsar bust", but otherwise it parses fine.


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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by linguoboy »

Shark Attacks Mother Of 3, Bites Off Arm While Snorkeling In Bahamas (International Business Times)

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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by Vijay »

Wow, that's a good one! I don't think I really thought of this until now, but...they left off the subjects of both clauses, and that's not even necessarily unusual for newspaper headlines.

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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by GamerGeek »

linguoboy wrote:Shark Attacks Mother Of 3, Bites Off Arm While Snorkeling In Bahamas (International Business Times)
I never knew sharks could snorkel!

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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by linguoboy »

GamerGeek wrote:
linguoboy wrote:Shark Attacks Mother Of 3, Bites Off Arm While Snorkeling In Bahamas (International Business Times)
I never knew sharks could snorkel!
Did you know they had arms?

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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by Salmoneus »

linguoboy wrote:
GamerGeek wrote:
linguoboy wrote:Shark Attacks Mother Of 3, Bites Off Arm While Snorkeling In Bahamas (International Business Times)
I never knew sharks could snorkel!
Did you know they had arms?
They don't - clearly the mother of 3 bit off her own arm. Presumably as a result of the trauma of those multiple shark attacks that she's famous for.

[or is she the presenter of Shark Attacks? The headline seems unclear.]
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I'se so silly to be flowing but I no canna stay!

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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by linguoboy »

Salmoneus wrote:[or is she the presenter of Shark Attacks? The headline seems unclear.]
I think she may be the mother of one of the presenters, the one in the cage from their recent Mother's Day special.

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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by Salmoneus »

I'm also curious: what makes it her off arm? What's off about it?
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But the river tripped on her by and by, lapping
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I'se so silly to be flowing but I no canna stay!

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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by Vijay »

Shark Attacks is the mother of three other shows and will bite off your arm while you're snorkeling in the Bahamas! Or maybe bite off its own arm. And maybe while its characters are snorkeling. Or maybe while it's snorkeling. Hard to tell. So ambiguous.

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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by Salmoneus »

Parliament has an Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group.
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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by linguoboy »

Got myself gardenpathed by this sentence: "Israeli President Reuven Rivlin describes Israel as a land that is used to debate, criticism, and controversy[.]"

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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by Salmoneus »

linguoboy wrote:Got myself gardenpathed by this sentence: "Israeli President Reuven Rivlin describes Israel as a land that is used to debate, criticism, and controversy[.]"
Ha! Yes indeed, that's a good one.
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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by Vijay »

Just to make sure: "used to debate" here is supposed to mean "accustomed to arguments/discussion"?

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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

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Vijay wrote:Just to make sure: "used to debate" here is supposed to mean "accustomed to arguments/discussion"?
That's my reading, yes.

Canuck the crow halts postal deliveries (BBC)

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Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Post by Vijay »

linguoboy wrote:
Vijay wrote:Just to make sure: "used to debate" here is supposed to mean "accustomed to arguments/discussion"?
That's my reading, yes.

Canuck the crow halts postal deliveries (BBC)
That's just clickbait. :P

That would be less confusing if "crow" was capitalized.

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