The case of the missing particle

[Laurence Horn]

At 12:47 PM -0500 12/29/07, Mark Mandel wrote:
>"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.
>
Maybe the original was
>"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] out."

LH

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