Editing 2793: Garden Path Sentence
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| titletext = Arboretum Owner Denied Standing in Garden Path Suit on Grounds Grounds Appealing Appealing | | titletext = Arboretum Owner Denied Standing in Garden Path Suit on Grounds Grounds Appealing Appealing | ||
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | A {{w|garden-path sentence}} is one in which the first or most obvious attempt at parsing the beginning of a sentence leads to the wrong meaning, causing confusion when the sentence is completed. A classic example of a garden path sentence is "The old man the boat.", leading to an initial incorrect parsing of "the old man" as a noun phrase, and therefore | + | {{incomplete|Created by a bot then modified by new editors. Please add information here regarding what remains to be done for the article. After sufficient extended time, the tag may be removed if all material is included.}} |
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+ | A {{w|garden-path sentence}} is one in which the first or most obvious attempt at parsing the beginning of a sentence leads to the wrong meaning, causing confusion when the sentence is completed. A classic example of a garden path sentence is "The old man the boat.", leading to an initial incorrect parsing of "the old man" as a noun phrase, and therefore no verb before the noun "the boat". The actual way to parse this sentence is to treat "the old" as a noun and "man" as a verb, meaning "take one's place at" or "to work at, run, or operate" , so the sentence means "The old people are operating the boat." | ||
Possible grammatically correct interpretations of the sentences in this comic are: | Possible grammatically correct interpretations of the sentences in this comic are: | ||
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After (bird strikes)<sup>1</sup>, (judge)<sup>2</sup>, (who ordered)<sup>3</sup> (olive garden-path sentence)<sup>4</sup> in (case of green walkways)<sup>5</sup> (vacated)<sup>3</sup>, (overturned but rights and lands safely.)<sup>2</sup> | After (bird strikes)<sup>1</sup>, (judge)<sup>2</sup>, (who ordered)<sup>3</sup> (olive garden-path sentence)<sup>4</sup> in (case of green walkways)<sup>5</sup> (vacated)<sup>3</sup>, (overturned but rights and lands safely.)<sup>2</sup> | ||
− | # "[[wikipedia:bird strike|bird strike]]s": Airplane colliding with birds in flight | + | # "[[wikipedia:bird strike|bird strike]]s": Airplane colliding with birds in flight |
# "judge ... overturned but rights and lands safely": The judge (and presumably the plane they were in) flipped over but was able to get right-side up again and land safely | # "judge ... overturned but rights and lands safely": The judge (and presumably the plane they were in) flipped over but was able to get right-side up again and land safely | ||
− | # "who [[wikipedia:Court order|ordered]] | + | # "who [[wikipedia:Court order|ordered]] ... [[:wikipedia:Vacated judgment|vacated]]": Identifies the judge as one who issued a ruling cancelling an earlier ruling. |
− | # " | + | # "Olive Garden path [[wikipedia:Sentence (law)|sentence]]": The thing that was cancelled was a punishment related to either |
− | # "[[wikipedia:Legal case|case]] of [[wikipedia: | + | ## Paths at the restaurant [[wikipedia:Olive Garden|Olive Garden]], |
− | + | ## A path in a garden of olive trees, or | |
− | + | ## An olive-colored path in a garden | |
+ | # "[[wikipedia:Legal case|case]] of [[wikipedia:Green|green]] walkways": The punishment was in a court case about green-colored walkways (likely the same paths listed above, which may have been meant to be an olive shade of green) | ||
− | Another way to break it down is, "After [the] bird strikes, [the] judge... [is] overturned, but [she] rights and lands safely." And she was "[the] judge who ordered [that the] olive garden-path sentence" (the legal sentence concerning | + | Another way to break it down is, "After [the] bird strikes, [the] judge... [is] overturned, but [she] rights and lands safely." And she was "[the] judge who ordered [that the] olive garden-path sentence" (the legal sentence concerning an olive-colored path) "in" (what is known as) "[the] Case of [the] Green Walkways [be] vacated." |
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This comic also pokes fun at newspaper headlines, which typically have minimal punctuation or articles and use only capital letters, leading to such ambiguities. | This comic also pokes fun at newspaper headlines, which typically have minimal punctuation or articles and use only capital letters, leading to such ambiguities. | ||
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A mostly similar, but slightly more comical interpretation (though less likely for a newspaper headline) can be: | A mostly similar, but slightly more comical interpretation (though less likely for a newspaper headline) can be: | ||
After (a) bird strikes, (the) judge ... (as above) (is) overturned, but rights and lands safely. In this case, the judge is standing, a bird strikes her and she is overturned, but she manages to right herself and land safely on the ground (not banging her head, for instance). | After (a) bird strikes, (the) judge ... (as above) (is) overturned, but rights and lands safely. In this case, the judge is standing, a bird strikes her and she is overturned, but she manages to right herself and land safely on the ground (not banging her head, for instance). | ||
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Certain combinations of words in the sentence are particularly easy to parse incorrectly. For example: | Certain combinations of words in the sentence are particularly easy to parse incorrectly. For example: | ||
* "bird" the headline is in all caps so this could be an avian but could also mean a person with the name of Bird such as Larry Bird the basketball player. | * "bird" the headline is in all caps so this could be an avian but could also mean a person with the name of Bird such as Larry Bird the basketball player. | ||
− | * "bird strikes judge" can be interpreted to mean that a bird deliberately hit the judge with an appendage or weapon. If bird is a person | + | * "bird strikes judge" can be interpreted to mean that a bird deliberately hit the judge with an appendage or weapon. If bird is a person the phrase might mean a labour dispute in which Bird is withdrawing services |
* "Olive Garden" is the name of a restaurant chain, and "ordered Olive Garden" could mean "placed an order for food from Olive Garden" | * "Olive Garden" is the name of a restaurant chain, and "ordered Olive Garden" could mean "placed an order for food from Olive Garden" | ||
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* "Garden path sentence" is a type of (written language) sentence | * "Garden path sentence" is a type of (written language) sentence | ||
− | * "Green" could be referring to "green" initiatives, environmentally-friendly practices being used | + | * "Green" could be referring to "green" initiatives, environmentally-friendly practices being used |
* "in case of" can mean "in the event of" (e.g. "in case of emergency, break glass") | * "in case of" can mean "in the event of" (e.g. "in case of emergency, break glass") | ||
* "vacated" and "overturned" can both mean "undone" in a legal context, and "rights" can refer to legal or constitutional rights | * "vacated" and "overturned" can both mean "undone" in a legal context, and "rights" can refer to legal or constitutional rights | ||
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Ignoring the pictures showing a plane and flight path and only focusing on the headline, it could also be interpreted this way: | Ignoring the pictures showing a plane and flight path and only focusing on the headline, it could also be interpreted this way: | ||
* "After bird strikes judge", "overturned but rights and lands safely": an avian creature flew into the judge, and as it bounced off it was upside-down, but it managed to recover in time to go right-side-up to land nearby. | * "After bird strikes judge", "overturned but rights and lands safely": an avian creature flew into the judge, and as it bounced off it was upside-down, but it managed to recover in time to go right-side-up to land nearby. | ||
− | * "case of green walkways", "olive garden path sentence": There was a case about green walkways, and the ruling was for an olive garden path (or it is dubbed the "Olive Garden path sentence" for the restaurant chain, because it is strongly linked to the chain - either they wanted this sentence as it benefits them or the chain is notorious for it). | + | *" case of green walkways", "olive garden path sentence": There was a case about green walkways, and the ruling was for an olive garden path (or it is dubbed the "Olive Garden path sentence" for the restaurant chain, because it is strongly linked to the chain - either they wanted this sentence as it benefits them or the chain is notorious for it). |
* "judge who ordered", "vacated": The aforementioned judge is known to people for ordering that the sentence be vacated (perhaps this was highly controversial), thus making this event significant enough to warrant a headline. | * "judge who ordered", "vacated": The aforementioned judge is known to people for ordering that the sentence be vacated (perhaps this was highly controversial), thus making this event significant enough to warrant a headline. | ||
− | + | The title text is also an example of a garden path sentence. The meaning is probably the following: Arboretum owner, [who was] denied [legal] standing in [the] garden-path [law]suit on grounds (the reason) [that the garden] grounds [are] appealing, [is] appealing [the ruling] | |
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− | The title text is also an example of a garden path sentence. The meaning is probably the following: Arboretum owner, [who was] denied [legal] standing in [the] garden-path [law]suit on grounds (the reason) [that the garden] grounds [are] appealing, [is] appealing [the ruling] | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[ | + | {{incomplete transcript}} |
− | : | + | :[Newspaper, with a picture of a plane next a judge, and a picture of a map with the path of an airplane, with the following headline] |
+ | :After bird strikes judge who ordered olive garden path sentence in case of green walkways vacated overturned but rights and lands safely | ||
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} |