Zeugma of the week
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We strongly reccomend [sic] that you do not purchase this software if you are not seeking a degree or a full time faculty member at a school, college or university.
March 28, 2015 @ 6:33 pm · Filed by Mark Liberman under Humor
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We strongly reccomend [sic] that you do not purchase this software if you are not seeking a degree or a full time faculty member at a school, college or university.
March 28, 2015 @ 6:33 pm · Filed by Mark Liberman under Humor
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Steve Reilly said,
March 28, 2015 @ 6:42 pm
This one threw me for a loop: "Deeply in debt and love with the socialist writer Anna Strunsky, London had been due to undertake a journalistic commission in South Africa."
http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/public/article1535626.ece
Laura Morland said,
March 28, 2015 @ 7:02 pm
But what about all those "full-time faculty member" groupies? I guess they'll have to buy other software….
Robot Therapist said,
March 28, 2015 @ 7:33 pm
It was only zeugma that kept them together.
Aaron Toivo said,
March 28, 2015 @ 9:29 pm
The nice part is how the zeugma motivates a garden-path reading, rewordable as "…if you are neither seeking a degree nor seeking a full-time faculty member…"
Xmun said,
March 28, 2015 @ 11:16 pm
I thought zeugma was the name for constructions where one of the elements made no sense at all, e.g. "See Pan with flocks, with fruits Pomona crowned" or "Kill the poys and the luggage!" This example is rather the result of trying to make the verb "are" work simultaneously as an auxiliary and as a copula. No? Or more diffidently still in Spanish: ¿No?
Jerry Friedman said,
March 28, 2015 @ 11:30 pm
I had more of a problem with the scope of the "not" than with the zeugma. "…if you are not seeking a degree or if you are a full-time faculty member…". An "unless" would have solved that one.
And what do they have against part-time faculty?
Yuval said,
March 29, 2015 @ 2:41 pm
Xmun: the way I understand it, a zeugma is a conjunction where for each conjunct, the common governing word needs to be understood as a different lexical entry, or with a different thematic structure: "he held the flower and himself accountable". I'm not sure where that puts the case in hand (does "seek" have the same sense in both?). But also for your interpretation, there's the misnegation that Jerry noticed.
chris said,
March 29, 2015 @ 3:25 pm
"he held the flower and himself accountable"
Well, someone's got to hold those flowers accountable, dammit. Especially in allergy season.
"Hold" is a good one because it has so many metaphorical meanings: in addition to holding actual objects, you can also hold your breath, your horses, the door, the line, the phone, these truths to be self-evident, etc.
"Deeply in debt and love with the socialist writer Anna Strunsky, London had been due to undertake a journalistic commission in South Africa."
Makes perfect sense if it's talking about Jack London (or some other person named London); otherwise your guess is as good as mine.
Jerry Friedman said,
March 29, 2015 @ 6:11 pm
Xmun: I don't think there's any consensus on the meaning of either "zeugma" or "syllepsis". Come to think of it, your quotation about Pan and Pomona is very similar to the one from SOLIDWORKS; they both have scope ambiguities, if I'm using that phrase correctly. I wouldn't call either one zeugma (or late for dinner) because there's no word that has to be taken two ways, as Yuval explained more precisely.
Michael Watts said,
March 29, 2015 @ 6:36 pm
I think the anomaly there is the implied construction "Deeply in debt with the socialist writer Anna Strunsky".
Yuval said,
March 29, 2015 @ 11:26 pm
I use "hold" because every time I hear of zeugmata I think of Alanis Morissette's "Head over Feet", due to the line "you held your breath and the door for me". But I'm heavily primed with this song, as its refrain begins with my name.
Chas Belov said,
March 30, 2015 @ 12:51 am
Not sure if this would be considered zeugma, but this AP story sentence certainly has the parts joined in a strange manner. Perhaps more garden path.
In Rabaul, residents noticed the sea level rose slightly, prompting ocean water to flood the parking lot of a shopping center near the beach, said Mika Tuvi, an employee at the Rabaul Hotel.
Makes sense if you parse as:
In Rabaul, [residents noticed] [the sea level rose slightly, prompting ocean water to flood the parking lot of a shopping center near the beach], said Mika Tuvi, an employee at the Rabaul Hotel.
But illogical if you parse, as I did, as:
In Rabaul, [residents noticed the sea level rose slightly,] [prompting ocean water to flood the parking lot of a shopping center near the beach,] said Mika Tuvi, an employee at the Rabaul Hotel.
implying sentient ocean water.
Source: http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Tsunami-warning-issued-for-parts-of-Pacific-after-6166774.php
GH said,
March 30, 2015 @ 3:05 am
@Yuval
Is "seek" involved here? In the intended reading, it only participates in the first part of the conjunction. As Xmun says, the issue seems to be two slightly different uses of "are," though personally I don't have a problem with it.
We strongly reccomend that you do not purchase this software if you are not ( (seeking a degree) or (a full time faculty member at a school, college or university) ).
Yuval said,
March 30, 2015 @ 3:15 am
Ah. Wow. Case closed then.
Adam F said,
March 30, 2015 @ 4:49 am
I guess the yoke's on them.
Steve said,
March 31, 2015 @ 3:06 pm
I love fruits Pomona, but they're no oysters Rockefeller.