[Jan D. Hodge]

" 'I don't know German,' she said, as she unbuttoned her blouse and unsnapped her bra, letting them fall to the floor."

Surely I'm not the only reader who did a double take reading those words (from Mark Strand's "Translation"). As we all know, language is tricky, and even good writers can occasionally create (probably) unintentional ambiguities, with delightfully comic effect.

Anyone have other examples of this they'd care to toss out?

[John Whitworth]

Well, there's always Cathetrine Morland in Northanger Abbey. At fifteen she began to curl her hair and long for balls.

[Jan D. Hodge]

Which reminds me that even, notoriously, Emily:

......A Dying Tiger--moaned for Drink--
......I hunted all the Sand--
......I caught the Dripping of a Rock
......And bore it in my Hand--

......His Mighty Balls--in Death--were thick-- . . .

Oops!

......But searching--I could see
......A vision on the Retina
......Of Water--and of me-- . . .

[Oh, she means eyeballs.]

[wendy v]

Ad for donkey rides in Thailand:

Would you like to ride your own ass?

[Carol Taylor]

Is it the close quotes you're talking about? Since single apostrophes are normally used to set off a quote within a quote, maybe the whole sentence is a quote?

Carol

[John Hutchcraft]

Jan, I wouldn't have done a double-take on that, but now that you point it out - and I've puzzled over it for some time - the light bulb has come on and I find the passage inescapably hilarious. Is it the bra that's falling to the floor, or what was just in the bra?

That is too, too funny.

[wendy v]

Don't feel bad, Carol. I had to do more than a uhm, double take, too.

And I've just realized I've been misspelling abcedary...

I obviously can't help it. That 'e' just doesn't belong.



[This message has been edited by wendy v (edited May 21, 2008).]

[Carol Taylor]

Ok, so I'm a little slow on the uptake. I should have got that one for sure.

[Roger Slater]

I once stole a bunch of lines from signs people claimed to have seen in foreign countries and turned them into a "found poem" that appeared in Light:

GAINED IN TRANSLATION
a found poem


You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid.
Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.
Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar.
Would you like to ride on your own ass?
Please leave your values at the front desk.
Special cocktails for the ladies with nuts.
We take your bags and send them in all directions.

[Jan D. Hodge]

She stood up and stepped out of her panties, leaving them on the bathroom floor where they lay and began walking toward Wahoo.

?

This from galley proofs of a novel I was checking for a friend. I recommended putting a comma after “floor” and dropping “where they lay.” (I used it for years to show students what a difference a comma can make.) I recommended a good laundromat to her.