Amphiboly

    AMPHIBOLY 

                        An Amphiboly occurs when the construction of a sentence , suffering from lack of grammatical clarity , allows it to have two different meanings.

For example,

 " the shooting of the hunters" may mean either "the hunters shot someone or something" or "the hunters were shot by someone".

A notice in a restaurant reads ;"Customers who think our waiters are rude should see the manager". This has two meanings--

1.Customers may complain to the manager about rude behaviour of the waiters;

2. The manager is ruder than the waiters.

"Teenagers shouldn't be allowed to drive. It is getting too dangerous on the streets."

These sentences could be taken to mean the teenagers will be in danger, or that they will cause the danger.

 

 

"No food is better than our food."

Implies that ours is best, or that ours is so poor that having none is the better choice.

 

Here are more examples.

 I invite friends to contribute more examples of Amphibloy. 

PPR

 

Last night I shot a burglar in my pyjamas.

 

The Oracle of Delphi told Croseus that if he pursued the war he would destroy a mighty kingdom. (What the Oracle did not mention was that the kingdom he destroyed would be his own. )

Save soap and waste paper.

 

The anthropologists went to a remote area and took photographs of some native women, but they weren't developed.

In this example, the pronoun "they" is ambiguous between the photographs and the native women, though presumably it was intended to refer to the former.

Of all the fallacies, Amphiboly is the most fun. The inadvertently clever word play and outrageous misunderstandings to which it gives rise just tickle our sense of humor.

 

          March Planned for Next August

          Blind Bishop Appointed to See

          Patient at Death's Door--Doctors Pull Him

                          Through

          Teacher Strikes Idle Kids

          Lawyers Give Poor Free Legal Advice

          Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant

          Killer Sentenced to Die for Second Time

                       in Ten Years

          Autos Killing 110 a Day--Let's Resolve

               to Do Better

          Collegians are Turning to Vegetables

 

 

A newly married man asks his wife, 

"Would you have married me if my father hadn't left me a fortune?" 

 

"Honey," his wife replied, 

"I'd have married you no matter who left you that fortune." 

 Courtesy : Sri.PPR

A doctor said to his patient, 

"I can't find the cause of your illness," 

then paused thoughtfully and added, 

"but frankly I think it's due to drinking." 

"That's OK," replied the patient, 

"I'll come back when you're sober."