...... it must not be a word (off topic)

[Amorelli]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 11:30 PM
Subject: Re: If it's not in the dictionary, it must not be a word

Dear All,

My question regards  amphibology, i.e. the deliberate construction of
ambiguous sentences.This 'i.e.' is kindly
provided by Bill Bryson (Mother Tongue,Penguin 1991; Chapter 15,p.232) who
also provides two examples:-
1)Disraeli, on receiving an unsolicited manuscript: 'I shall lose no time in
reading it.'
2)Waiter to irate customer: 'If you think I'm rude, you should see the
manager.'
As the first 'works' however you read it, while the second depends on
intonation (with stress changes), I was wondering if under 'amphibology'
there were  subcategorizations reflecting these differences and, who knows,
maybe even others.
I would be grateful for any ideas at all on this.
M.I.Amorelli LLB Hons
EAP, Faculties of Economics and Law,
Sassari,
Italy

P.S. Is '...it must not be a word' the equivalent of '..it can't be a word'
?

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