The case of the missing particle
Mark Mandel
thnidu at GMAIL.COM
Sat Dec 29 17:47:48 UTC 2007
"They are treating the zoo as a crime scene and have not ruled the
possibility that the tiger latched on to a limb slung over her exhibit wall
to pull itself out."
(http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN28371903)
Possibilities are seldom if ever "ruled". The culprit here may be some
careless copyreader, who saw the final "out" -- which goes with "pull itself
___" -- and didn't read the clause in between. Further evidence: the
waffling over whether this tiger should be referred to with feminine or
neuter pronouns.
m a m
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