Topics having to do with multiple meanings of a word or phrase.
3
votes
4answers
154 views
Parse tree of “the ports of Santo Domingo and Cartagena in present-day Colombia”
There is a Wikipedia article with the following line:
Drake sailed to the New World and sacked the ports of Santo Domingo and Cartagena in present-day Colombia.
Never mind the facts as we might ...
7
votes
2answers
454 views
Is “can't” a euphemism or is it ambiguous?
People often say can't to mean won't. I am not referring to lying, but in cases where it is very clear to the listener that the speaker intends to mean won't. For example: I can't continue in this ...
8
votes
4answers
538 views
Killer Queen. The usage of noun sequences of length two and more. Ambiguity of nouns phrases in English
I have a question about nouns triplets like "sofa box container" and I'll formulate it at the end. I have some reasoning and I want to make sure I'm correct.
First of all consider the following ...
6
votes
5answers
240 views
Meaning of “more original computer science”
If I write
Knuth has written more original computer science than anybody else
does it mean computer science that is more original or more computer science that is original? It seems like it ...
1
vote
3answers
580 views
“All X are not made equal” - ambiguous meaning?
A phrase commonly heard in English (at least informal English) is something like the following:
Well, this car is good, but all cars are not made equal!
This would be commonly understood by most ...
2
votes
1answer
539 views
Phrase and word-order meaning
I know that "only" and "just" and word-order are oft-mentioned topics on here, but word-order for phrases and meanings - don't both of these mean different things?
Here is an example of how word ...
4
votes
4answers
623 views
Arguable (“susceptible to doubt”) vs arguable (“susceptible to being supported”)
According to dictionary.com, the adjective arguable has two definitions
susceptible to debate, challenge, or doubt; questionable: Whether
this is the best plan of action or not is arguable.
...
3
votes
2answers
257 views
Non-idiomatic “would be a rare X that Y”: “…would be a rare hurricane that…”
In following, a writer quotes and summarizes Bill Read's remarks regarding Hurricane Irene:
“This is not just a coastal event,” said Bill Read, director of the National Hurricane Center. He said ...
1
vote
1answer
395 views
Word-order and meaning - which is correct for this notice? [closed]
I'm creating some signs for the office car park, and one of these signs is to control access. What I'm trying to get it to indicate is that cars aren't permitted between 10 am and 4pm except for ...
5
votes
4answers
344 views
What's the proper interpretation of: “I was kissed by a girl twice”?
The other day I experienced two distinct but similar events. I wanted to convey this to a friend and this is what came to mind:
"I was kissed by a girl twice."
My question is, does this sentence say, ...
2
votes
5answers
2k views
Does “until [date]” mean “before that date”?
What does until mean in the following?
You need to deliver this product within 2 days (until August 18, 2011)
to meet your deadline and get paid.
Does this mean that I have to deliver the ...
1
vote
4answers
241 views
What does this mean: “Avoid oral calcium, dairy products, shark cartilage & exercise during the medication.”
I found this behind a medicine. At first thought, the sentence looks like it suggests avoiding exercise during the medication. However, I remember reading somewhere that in US English, when there is a ...
17
votes
10answers
1k views
Ambiguity of “Dogs must be carried on this escalator”
In the words of the old joke, I wanted to go up to the next floor of a department store, and I saw an escalator with a sign saying
Dogs must be carried on this escalator.
But I didn't have a ...
7
votes
8answers
2k views
Is “Four times more” grammatically correct? And, if so, what precisely does it mean?
I have 10 beans. Jim has four times more.
Is this a valid sentence? And, if so, does it mean Jim has 40 or 50 beans?
2
votes
1answer
2k views
What the British say vs. What the British mean [closed]
There's an amusing email being sent round which has some common phrases British people use and others mis-interpret. I was actually shocked at how I often use these phrases without giving any thought.
...
24
votes
4answers
6k views
How to answer a negative question without ambiguity?
I faced a problem to answer a negative question, for example When someone ask you:
Don't you have any money?
It's a yes/no question but how should one answer the question without ambiguity?
...
4
votes
2answers
543 views
Ambiguity when a sentence contains multiple possessive pronouns
I have a question related to another one that I have asked.
In the following sentence, whose father is being referenced?
Billy’s friend and his father were there.
In the following re-structured ...
6
votes
3answers
167 views
Interpreting ambiguous agreement
We're proud of our tortilla chips and we hope you'll agree.
It may seem trivial but I've seen similar remarks on other products and it just doesn't feel like a valid sentence because I can't ...
19
votes
6answers
4k views
What is the difference between “archetype” and “prototype”?
I'm very confused by the difference between "archetype" and "prototype", and even more baffled when to use which. Can someone clarify?
4
votes
4answers
344 views
An ambiguity problem with “the first thing you remember”
I'm having an ambiguity problem with the following sentence:
What's the first thing you remember?
If I'm right, it may mean either:
1) What is the first thing you can recall, the furthest in ...
3
votes
2answers
289 views
Is “We embraced.” a complete sentence?
Can someone write "we embraced" to mean "we embraced each other?"
4
votes
3answers
168 views
“May not” — no choice vs. mere restriction
This is from the tabletop game Warhammer 40k rulebook:
The turn Marines arrive they may not assault.
I always assumed it means they are not allowed to assault. But the meaning "they may choose not ...
4
votes
3answers
4k views
Meaning of “I feel so helpless”
What is the phrase "I feel so helpless" supposed to mean?
Is it "I feel as though I am unable to offer help" or "I feel as though no one could help me?"
I saw it in a movie, and always thought it ...
2
votes
3answers
658 views
Should “that” or “it” be used in this sentence?
People say things like ‘all publicity is good publicity’ but that isn't always true.
Should that in the sentence above be replaced with it? It's sort of ambiguous as to what that is referring to, ...
3
votes
3answers
264 views
Does “someone appeared to help me” have two meanings?
Someone appeared to help me.
If I get it right, this sentence can either mean:
"It seems like someone was helping me." (seems like = appear to)
"Someone showed up to help me." (show up = ...
7
votes
4answers
639 views
“Connotation” vs. “Definition”
There seems to be some ambiguity between the connotation and definition of a word / word group / phrase.
The dictionary entry seems to be that a definition is more of a primary description of a word ...
0
votes
2answers
763 views
“Miami installed the first ATM for rollerbladers”
This is Snapple Real Fact #851. Is this sentence ambiguous between
They installed the first ATM specifically for rollerbladers, and
They installed the very first ATM, coincidentally for ...
8
votes
3answers
6k views
What is the meaning of the expression “We can table this”?
This came up in an email discussion - we are arguing about the merits and demerits of a certain approach, and I mentioned what I thought was a drawback to a scheme. To that, my colleague replied : ...
7
votes
5answers
318 views
“Gadhafi forces retreat” - how do you understand that?
Our local newspaper had the headline today "Gadhafi forces retreat" and I read it with "retreat" as the verb instead of "forces" as the verb. I know it is a poorly written headline, but which way is ...
2
votes
1answer
517 views
Interpreting the meaning of 'but' as an implication for exclusion/inclusion
I often find it difficult to interpret the meaning of but in some of the sentences where it is used to imply exclusion/inclusion. For example: Drink everything you want but alcohol.
Also, sometimes ...
3
votes
4answers
239 views
Meaning of “The Lord is on our side”
Written in 1836 in Texas
P.S. The Lord is on our
side—When the enemy appeared in sight
we had not three bushels of corn—We
have since found in deserted houses 80
or 90 bushels & got ...
10
votes
3answers
1k views
How can I distinguish “can” & “can't” from pronunciation?
It's very difficult for me to separate them.
I was just listening to some video and it said
"Fat cells can’t reproduce themselves."
What I thought I've heard is "... CAN reproduce ..."
Frankly, ...
1
vote
2answers
644 views
How to interpret this kind of sentence?
I have a question related to an example sentence below. I always have slight doubt in interpreting sentences which have this kind of clauses being connected.
Consider this sentence:
The book ...
8
votes
2answers
4k views
“All but” idiom has two meanings?
Here's two ways I've seen the "all, but" idiom used:
"Close all tabs but this one" (Any modern application with a number of tabs might have this as an option.) It means "close all the tabs, but not ...
5
votes
2answers
501 views
Is it wrong to say “The sun's rays are primarily responsible for skin damage.”
The sun's rays are primarily
responsible for skin damage.
To me this sounds like it means that the primary activity of the sun's rays is damaging skin. However the intention is obviously that ...
7
votes
3answers
1k views
How much exactly is increased when it is “increased by 1.1”?
I saw it in a text book, and a similar problem that also appeared in the book is "3 times faster", which is already asked. Simply speaking, the book says:
Unfortunately, it increases the CPI by ...
11
votes
5answers
12k views
What is the difference between “nothing but”, “anything but”, and “everything but”?
What is the difference between these phrases? When is it valid to use which? Should they be avoided as being ambiguous?
1
vote
1answer
402 views
Is this sentence ambiguous?
I was reading my apartment lease recently, and I came across this sentence in the rent section:
"Lessee will pay a penalty of $16.00 for rent that is unpaid before the 6th of the month."
The ...
2
votes
2answers
318 views
Books and other things with the same name
Is it proper to say "the book and movie Of Mice and Men" even though the two identical terms "Of Mice and Men" do not refer to the same entity?
An alternative would be "the book Of Mice and Men and ...
8
votes
3answers
800 views
How are pronouns resolved?
Are pronouns in English resolved syntactically or semantically? Do they always refer to the closest matching noun?
A wikipedia article has these examples:
We gave the bananas to the monkeys because ...
2
votes
5answers
260 views
“the same” and “that particular one”
Consider
I'm driving the same car.
It sounds like me and someone else share one and the same car. But I could mean that my car is just another copy of the same model of the car. How do I express ...
12
votes
4answers
10k views
How should “midnight on…” be interpreted?
From what I understand, the word "midnight" is usually interpreted incorrectly.
Midnight is written as "12am" which would imply that it's in the morning. Therefore, it should be at the start of the ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
Double meaning?
Taken from "A Quiver Full of Arrows":
"The flowers have lasted well," she
teased, and left him to make the
coffee.
Does the sentence clearly imply that she left to make the coffee? Or could ...
9
votes
6answers
1k views
Ambiguity of “quite”
The adverb "quite" has the following meanings according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary:
1: wholly, completely ("not quite
finished")
2: to an extreme : positively "quite
sure" —often ...
20
votes
5answers
4k views
How should I address someone with a known name and unknown gender?
When communicating with foreign cultures, the gender of the addressed person is not always clear from the name. What would be a professional way to address someone in this situation. (Dear Mr or Ms ...
