The many meanings of
one sentence.
Read on as we discover the wonders of amphibology in English.
H
ere’s an old English
riddle: An airplane
crashes. Every single
person on board dies. But
two people survive. How is
it possible? If “every single
person” died, how could two
people have survived?
Well, like many riddles, the trick
is in the wording of the question.
“Every single person” may mean
“everyone” or it may refer to
every unmarried person. The two
survivors weren’t single – they
were married.
Lovers of the English language
have come up with labels for
just about everything, so it’s no
surprise that we have a name for
this: A grammatically correct
sentence (like that riddle) which
can be construed in two or more
ways. It’s called amphibology,
and now that it’s been pointed
out to you, you’ll probably start
noticing it every day.
The simplest illustration of
amphibology is this: “I like
chocolate more than Steve.”
This sentence could mean that
the speaker likes chocolate
more than Steve does, or that
the speaker prefers chocolate
to Steve. Both interpretations
are reasonable; neither strays
outside the boundaries of correct
grammar. The sentence has to be
interpreted based on context and
the listener’s knowledge of how
likeable Steve is. Of course, this
is just a hypothetical example;
the world is full of real cases of
amphibology which are amusing
to consider.
Take this quote from a recent
BBC article: “Ms Wang said that
she might be willing to speak
about what had happened in the
future.” The sentence is perfectly
correct: Ms. Wang isn’t ready to
talk yet, but she may be in the
future. But if we take a second
look at the sentence, we see a
strong implication that Ms. Wang
is, in fact, a time traveler, and
she is considering discussing the
events of the future. And what an
exciting article that promises to
be!
Candidates studying for the
IELTS, a major exam for
ESL students hoping to go to
overseas universities, encounter
the following question in their
Cambridge study guides: “What
do you think the clothes we wear
say about us?” Although it surely
isn’t the answer the examiner is
looking for, an entirely suitable
response would be, “Nothing.
Clothes can’t speak.” I personally
believe IELTS candidates should
score higher for finding the
ambiguity.
The
word
“amphibology”
is derived from the Greek
word amphibolos, meaning
“ambiguous.” For those who
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love wordplay, stumbling across
an amphibological sentence
is a great treat. On occasion,
however,
these
peculiar
sentences can have very serious
ramifications.
In a famous 1953 murder trial in
England, amphibology ceased
to be a trivial matter and took
on vital importance for Bentley,
a young man who was on trial
for his involvement in a police
officer’s murder. Bentley didn’t
pull the trigger himself, but when
his accomplice was cornered
by the ill-fated officer, Bentley
was heard to yell, “Let him have
it!” Bentley’s defense attorney
argued that the now infamous
command was intended to mean,
“Let him have the gun,” while
Crown prosecutors insisted it was
an idiomatic instruction to shoot
the officer. Both arguments are
tenable, but the judge preferred
the prosecution’s interpretation,
and Bentley was sentenced to
death. (His mental health was
hotly debated for years, and he
was granted a full posthumous
pardon in 1998.)
Most of the time, though, the
consequences of amphibology
are less grave. It’s a popular
source of humor. Consider this
quote from The Private Life
of Sherlock Holmes, a 1970
comedy film. Watson, worried
that people think he and Holmes
are gay, suggests, “We should
get married,” by which he
means both he and Holmes
should marry women. Holmes,
interpreting Watson’s suggestion
to mean that they should marry
one another, replies, “Then
they’d really talk!”
The Simpsons often makes
clever use of amphibology,
as in a 1995 episode in which
Marge observes, “Kids can be
so cruel.” She means, of course,
that children are capable of great
cruelty, but Bart deliberately
misinterprets her meaning as
permission: “We can? Thanks,
Mom!” he exclaims, rushing into
Lisa’s room to torment her.
As in that last joke, amphibology
often results from the vagueness
of
prepositions.
Consider
this sentence, which I wrote
to have at least four possible
interpretations:
“Roger bought a t-shirt with a
picture of a duck.”
What does it mean?
• Roger might have bought a
t-shirt which bears a duck’s
likeness;
• he might have bought a t-shirt
using a picture of a duck as
currency;
• he might have bought a t-shirt
and a picture of a duck in one
transaction;
• he might have simply bought a
t-shirt while he was in possession
of a picture of a duck.
The preposition “with” has so
many possible implications that
any one of these interpretations
could be inferred. And a whole
slew of additional interpretations
become possible if you interpret
“a picture of a duck” to mean “a
picture belonging to a duck”. (I
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shared this sentence with a friend
who loves wordplay, and she
actually said, “I’m so amazed
that I can hardly speak!” Her
reply was a wonderful example
of amphibology: She might be
unable to speak because she
was amazed or she may just be
terribly amazed because she
can’t speak.)
Stop! We Beat Everybody!
Our prices are more competitive
than other prices or we beat up
every person.
Last night I shot an elephant in
my pajamas. How he got in my
pajamas, I don’t know.
Finally, let’s return to Sherlock
Holmes for one last bizarre
example of amphibology. In
“The Man with the Twisted
Lip,” an early Holmes adventure
by Arthur Conan Doyle, Watson
describes a client thusly: “He
married the daughter of a local
brewer, by whom he now has
two children.” The reader can
decide whether the man has two
children by his wife or by his
father-in-law; it all depends on
how twisted they want “Twisted
Lip” to be.
Other examples
Teenagers
shouldn’t
be
allowed to drive. It’s 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.
Young men and women.
Are they both young or just the
men?
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