There's a term for the type of grammatical ambiguity in this headline, but I can't remember the word. Not "eggcorn." Something else. (And since this was in the New York Times, I can't help but wonder if it was intentional). What is the term? Then I'll write some more about it.
Addendum: Hat tip to reader Brad, who remembered the term "crash blossom." See my previous posts "Two 'crash blossom' headlines" and "Crash blossom of the day." And way back in 2010 I posted this list of crash blossom headlines (selected favorites in boldface): (I double-dare you to read the 16 boldface ones out loud without laughing. It has never been accomplished).
Blind Bishop Appointed To SeeL.A. Voters Approve Urban Renewal by LandslidePatient At Death's Door - Doctors Pull Him ThroughStadium Air Conditioning Fails - Fans ProtestQueen Mary Having Bottom ScrapedFund Set Up for Beating Victim's KinNever Withhold Herpes Infection From Loved OneAutos Killing 110 a Day - Let's Resolve to Do BetterBlind Woman Gets New Kidney from Dad She Hasn't Seen in YearsFlaming Toilet Seat Causes Evacuation at High SchoolDefendants Speech Ends in Long SentencePolice Begin Campaign to Run Down JaywalkersStiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral PlanCollegians are Turning to VegetablesQuarter of a Million Chinese Live on WaterFarmer Bill Dies in HouseEye Drops off ShelfReagan Wins on Budget, But More Lies AheadMiners Refuse to Work after DeathTwo Sisters Reunited after 18 Years in Checkout CounterNew Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test GroupKids Make Nutritious SnacksDeaf College Opens Doors to HearingProsecutor Releases Probe into UndersheriffOld School Pillars are Replaced by AlumniSex Education Delayed, Teachers Request Training4-H Girls Win Prizes for Fat CalvesAfter Detour to California Shuttle Returns to EarthAir Head FiredAlcohol Frequently Seen In Cases (from the Colorado Daily News)Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in SpacecraftBan On Soliciting Dead in TrotwoodBank Drive-in Window Blocked by BoardBritish Left Waffles on Falkland IslandsBritish Union Finds Dwarfs in Short SupplyChef Throws His Heart into Helping Feed Needy (from the Louisville Courier Journal)Child's Death Ruins Couple's HolidayDeer Kill 17,328Drunk Gets Nine Months in Violin CaseDrunken Drivers Paid $1000 in `84Enfields Couple Slain; Police Suspect HomicideEnraged Cow Injures Farmer with AxHeat Wave Linked to Temperatures (from Daily Sun Post)Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors (from the Providence Journal)Include your Children When Baking CookiesInfertility Unlikely To Be Passed On (from the Montgomery Advertiser)Iraqi Head Seeks ArmsJerk Injures Neck, Wins Award (from the Buffalo News)Juvenile Court to Try Shooting DefendantKids Make Nutritious SnacksKiller Sentenced to Die for Second Time in 10 Years (from the Post News)Lack of Brains Hinders Research (from The Columbus Dispatch)Lansing Residents Can Drop Off TreesLawyer Says Client is Not That GuiltyLawmen from Mexico Barbecue GuestsLegislator Wants Tougher Death PenaltyLocal High School Dropouts Cut in Half (From the Valley News)Lung Cancer in Women MushroomsMan Jumps Off Bridge. Neither Jumper nor Body FoundMan Minus Ear Waives Hearing (from The Sun)March Planned For Next AugustMessiah Climaxes In Chorus Of Hallelujahs (The Anchorage, Alaska Times)Milk Drinkers are Turning to PowderNew Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test GroupNew Vaccine may Contain RabiesOfficial: Only Rain Will Cure Drought (from The Herald-News, Westpost, Massachusetts)Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over (from The Overland News)Plane Too Close to Ground, Crash Probe ToldProstitutes Appeal to PopePutting Mattress On Floor Prevents Fall From Bed (from the Associated Press)Queen Mary Having Bottom Scraped (from The Times, in the U.K.)Red Tape Holds Up New BridgeSafety Experts Say School Bus Passengers Should Be BeltedShot Off Woman's Leg Helps Nicklaus to 66Some Pieces of Rock Hudson Sold at AuctionSomething Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert SaysSquad Helps Dog Bite VictimSteals Clock, Faces TimeStolen Painting Found by TreeStud Tires OutStudy Finds Sex, Pregnancy Link (Cornell Daily Sun, December 7, 1995)Survivor of Siamese Twins Joins ParentsTeenage Girls Often Have Babies Fathered by Men (The Sunday Oregonian)Two Convicts Evade Noose, Jury Hung (Headline from the Oakland Tribune)Two Soviet Ships Collide, One DiesTyphoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds DeadWar Dims Hope for PeaceWoman Improving After Fatal Crash
Addendum: one on a book cover, posted at Creative Bloq, via Neatorama.
Here's one I spotted today (March 25) on Google News:
Just to clarify: it's the tornado that's expected to last for hours. not the homes. And here's an old one I posted back in 2010:
Reposted from 2020 because I needed a laugh today.
Addendum: Found this one at Bad Newspaper.
Amphiboly?
ReplyDeleteIt’s called a crash blossom
ReplyDeleteMarxism, as in Groucho. Cf. "One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know."
ReplyDeleteWorse: "Time flies like an arrow, Fruit flies like a banana." What kind of spray do you have to buy to get rid of time flies? Doubtless the doctor knows.
Um, I think it is called lack of a comma.
ReplyDeleteSNL sketch something about "You can't put too much water in a nuclear reactor..."
ReplyDeleteSorry I can't find the video to link to.
Crash blossoms are often discussed at the Language Log blog, and maybe the phrase was even invented there. What the phrase means is debatable, as attested by the discussion https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2407. Some commenters think a true crash blossom involves a syntactic ambiguity, such as misreading a noun as a verb or misconstruing what word a prepositional phrase is modifying, rather than just semantics. (The “Flaming Toilet” headline is an example of the latter, involving two meanings of the noun “evacuation.”) The headline that led to the phrase was “Violinist linked to JAL crash blossoms,” where the ambiguity stems from whether “blossoms” is to be understand as a noun or verb. Newspaper headlines are prone to this sort of ambiguous reading because they omit words, especially indefinite and definite articles.
ReplyDeleteThe Columbia Journalism Review published an annual collection of this sort of thing. My favorite was "The caller told police that she had seen sex taking place between two cars."
ReplyDeleteYou haven't got my all-time favorite: Sheep Attacks Rocket
ReplyDeleteNo mention of my favorite headline of all time, when Labour MP Michael Foot was appointed to be the chair of a nuclear disarmament committee: Foot Heads Arms Body.
ReplyDeleteThose read like outtakes from "The Onion"? or should / could be used by them? :-)
ReplyDelete