Editing Talk:1155: Kolmogorov Directions
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Arguably, the directions are ambiguous in text form. As you suggest, they could be validly parsed as "take every left that doesn't put you on a (prime-numbered highway) or (street named for a president)", or they could be understood as "take every left that doesn't put you on a prime-numbered (highway or street) named for a president. In the first parsing, the listener should avoid (prime-numbered highways) and (streets named for a president). In the latter, the listener should avoid (highways and streets) which are both prime-numbered and named for a president. The lack of an indefinite article between "or" and "street" leaves both options open. If the directions had been "take every left that doesn't put you on a prime-numbered highway or **a** street named for a president", the second parsing would not be correct. Fortunately, when spoken aloud, the intended parsing is clear by whether there is a short pause between "highway" and "or". [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.33|162.158.255.33]] 19:31, 22 January 2016 (UTC) | Arguably, the directions are ambiguous in text form. As you suggest, they could be validly parsed as "take every left that doesn't put you on a (prime-numbered highway) or (street named for a president)", or they could be understood as "take every left that doesn't put you on a prime-numbered (highway or street) named for a president. In the first parsing, the listener should avoid (prime-numbered highways) and (streets named for a president). In the latter, the listener should avoid (highways and streets) which are both prime-numbered and named for a president. The lack of an indefinite article between "or" and "street" leaves both options open. If the directions had been "take every left that doesn't put you on a prime-numbered highway or **a** street named for a president", the second parsing would not be correct. Fortunately, when spoken aloud, the intended parsing is clear by whether there is a short pause between "highway" and "or". [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.33|162.158.255.33]] 19:31, 22 January 2016 (UTC) | ||
− | I came here to discover what's wrong/significant about prime numbered highways and streets named after presidents, LOL! Like if prime numbered highways tend to lead out of town or something else I never noticed. But seeing a complete lack thereof in either the explanation or the comments, I guess that means these are just peculiarities which make these directions work, that taking every left would guide you onto such a highway and such a street which would take you the wrong way. While I fully agree with the previous commenter about the potential ambiguity introduced by how you parse the sentence, not only does it seem like it's meant to be parsed as two separate exceptions, but also that combining BOTH prime numbered AND presidents' names seems to be getting ridiculously specific, LOL! After all, highways will TEND to only have numbers, and streets will TEND to only have names | + | I came here to discover what's wrong/significant about prime numbered highways and streets named after presidents, LOL! Like if prime numbered highways tend to lead out of town or something else I never noticed. But seeing a complete lack thereof in either the explanation or the comments, I guess that means these are just peculiarities which make these directions work, that taking every left would guide you onto such a highway and such a street which would take you the wrong way. While I fully agree with the previous commenter about the potential ambiguity introduced by how you parse the sentence, not only does it seem like it's meant to be parsed as two separate exceptions, but also that combining BOTH prime numbered AND presidents' names seems to be getting ridiculously specific, LOL! After all, highways will TEND to only have numbers, and streets will TEND to only have names. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.148|108.162.218.148]] 05:18, 27 January 2016 (UTC) |
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