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In this example (no pun intended, of course):

I shouldn't see one woman on Twitter today being that it's National Sandwich Day.

Does it mean that I'm not likely to see any or just one woman?

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It means you're not likely to see any woman on Twitter.

Technically it could mean that you're not likely to see only one woman on Twitter, but I think the tongue-in-cheek context favors the first meaning.

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  • Right, but I don't think it's ambiguous at all. Equate with "I shouldn't see a single woman". If you meant "only one woman", or "one woman in particular", you would just say so.
    – Jon Purdy
    Nov 3, 2010 at 20:11
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    @Jon Well, yes, you would hope one would say so, and one usually does. I don't think it is ambiguous either. Ambiguity comes from not being able to tell the meaning from the context. My point is that structurally/technically/syntactically, it could also mean ony one woman. I guess I was being ambiguous. :-)
    – Chris
    Nov 3, 2010 at 22:52

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