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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Is this sentence ambiguous?
I am mired in some small-town politics. There is some disagreement about the meaning of part of our Zoning Ordinance. The sentence in question is in a section that defines the "permitted uses" in one of the zones. Here it is:
Customary home occupations such as offices of recognized professions, trade persons, cottage industries, and bed-and-breakfast.
It has been a few decades since I studied grammar, but I think the only grammatical interpretation of this sentence is that it defines one "permitted use" (namely "customary home occupations") and that "customary home occupations" is defined using four examples: 1) "offices of recognized professions," 2) "trade persons," 3) "cottage industries," and 4) "bed-and-breakfast."
There is a (very vocal) proponent of an alternate interpretation: this sentence specifies four separate "permitted uses": 1) "customary home occupations such as offices of recognized professions," 2) "trade persons," 3) "cottage industries," and 4) "bed-and-breakfast."
My dim recollection of the rules around commas is that if you wanted to construct a sentence that means the latter, you would need to change some of the commas to semicolons.
I would appreciate some "expert" opinions before I take a strong stand.
Thanks,
Rob
P.S. It probably seems like the difference between the interpretations is very small. In this case, it determines whether or not you have to reside at a property that is used for "trade persons," "cottage industries," and "bed-and-breakfast." This is a residential-agricultural zone that otherwise would not allow a stand-alone, non-agricultural commercial operation.
Customary home occupations such as offices of recognized professions, trade persons, cottage industries, and bed-and-breakfast.
It has been a few decades since I studied grammar, but I think the only grammatical interpretation of this sentence is that it defines one "permitted use" (namely "customary home occupations") and that "customary home occupations" is defined using four examples: 1) "offices of recognized professions," 2) "trade persons," 3) "cottage industries," and 4) "bed-and-breakfast."
There is a (very vocal) proponent of an alternate interpretation: this sentence specifies four separate "permitted uses": 1) "customary home occupations such as offices of recognized professions," 2) "trade persons," 3) "cottage industries," and 4) "bed-and-breakfast."
My dim recollection of the rules around commas is that if you wanted to construct a sentence that means the latter, you would need to change some of the commas to semicolons.
I would appreciate some "expert" opinions before I take a strong stand.
Thanks,
Rob
P.S. It probably seems like the difference between the interpretations is very small. In this case, it determines whether or not you have to reside at a property that is used for "trade persons," "cottage industries," and "bed-and-breakfast." This is a residential-agricultural zone that otherwise would not allow a stand-alone, non-agricultural commercial operation.
Top answer
'Customary home occupations' is obviously followed by 4 examples. That is not only the only reasonable interpretation, but also one that will hold up under legal scrutiny. If the author wished to mean otherwise, semicolons would not help (in fact, their use would be wrong here), but the list would have to be rearranged: Trade persons, cottage industries, bed-and-breakfasts, and c ustomary home occupations such as offices of recognized professions.
- 'Customary home occupations' is obviously followed by 4 examples.
- That is not only the only reasonable interpretation, but also one that will hold up under legal scrutiny.
- If the author wished to mean otherwise, semicolons would not help (in fact, their use would be wrong here), but the list would have to be rearranged: Trade persons, cottage industries, bed-and-breakfasts, and c ustomary home occupations such as offices of recognized professions.
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2 Answers
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'Customary home occupations' is obviously followed by 4 examples. That is not only the only reasonable interpretation, but also one that will hold up under legal scrutiny. If the author wished to mean otherwise, semicolons would not help (in fact, their use would be wrong here), but the list would have to be rearranged:
Trade persons, cottage industries, bed-and-breakfasts, an
Trade persons, cottage industries, bed-and-breakfasts, an
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There is none; it is open to interpretation. The commas do not make or break the meaning, nor would semicolons help. Communication is a negotiation between interlocutors.
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