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HUBLOT Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Marcella's hairstyle broke all the rules and none of them.

http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/little-girls-big-bow-banned-4-old-hairstyle-220000255.html
Marcella's hairstyle broke all the rules and none of them.

What does this sentence mean? Does it mean "Marcella's hairstyle broke all the rules. The hairstyle broke none of them"?
  

Top answer

That is the rhetorical device of paradox. It is deliberate nonsense. It is supposed to make you think.

— Enoon

  • That is the rhetorical device of paradox.
  • It is deliberate nonsense.
  • It is supposed to make you think.
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2 Answers
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That is the rhetorical device of paradox. It is deliberate nonsense. It is supposed to make you think.
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The school rules for photos state that ribbons are to be of dark color (to keep out bright, flashy ribbons, etc.) and that braids are forbidden (to keep out dreadlocks, etc.). The girl's hair, technically speaking, didn't break any of these rules: she has no bright-colored ribbons, and she has no braids, as such. However, the overall presentation seems like a kind of mockery of the rules: the
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