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Ludwig Posted 22 years ago
Grammar
Not a misrelated participle
Today someone sent me an amusing email, listing various silly things that happen in the movies. One of the lines was "If staying in a haunted house, women should investigate any strange noises in their most revealing underwear.".
I immediately fastened on this as a bit of a howler; the strange noises are presumably phenomena associated with the haunted house in general, not the revealing underwear in particular. But afterwards, I decided that my description of the error as a misrelated participle wasn't correct - it's the preposition "in" that's misrelated. If it had been "wearing their most revealing underwear", THAT would have been a misrelated participle. I don't know the name for this type of error (if there is one!) - can anyone out there set me straight?
I immediately fastened on this as a bit of a howler; the strange noises are presumably phenomena associated with the haunted house in general, not the revealing underwear in particular. But afterwards, I decided that my description of the error as a misrelated participle wasn't correct - it's the preposition "in" that's misrelated. If it had been "wearing their most revealing underwear", THAT would have been a misrelated participle. I don't know the name for this type of error (if there is one!) - can anyone out there set me straight?
Top answer
I had to read it twice to get your point, Ludwig, because the sentence is quite natural. I see what you mean, but I don't think it's a grammatical error; it is just an unfortunate juxtaposition of phrases, that reveals careless style more than anything elso.
- I had to read it twice to get your point, Ludwig, because the sentence is quite natural.
- I see what you mean, but I don't think it's a grammatical error; it is just an unfortunate juxtaposition of phrases, that reveals careless style more than anything elso.
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2 Answers
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I had to read it twice to get your point, Ludwig, because the sentence is quite natural. I see what you mean, but I don't think it's a grammatical error; it is just an unfortunate juxtaposition of phrases, that reveals careless style more than anything elso.
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This type of error would be called a misplaced modifier, which is the more general name for such unfortunate, but often funny, turns of phrase.
The misrelated participles you speak of are simply a subcategory of misplaced modifiers.
The misrelated participles you speak of are simply a subcategory of misplaced modifiers.
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