...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Ambiguous Syntax
- 1523 statements
- 288 feature instances
- 339 referencing feature instances
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A simple statement becomes a bit of wordplay caused by an unclear modifier. This is also known as a "syntactic ambiguity" or "squinting construction". This typically occurs through the use of multiple nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc., in the same sentence, in such a way that it's difficult or even impossible to determine which adjective, verb, etc, applies to each noun. As a result, it's possible to interpret the sentence as having two or more meanings which are sufficiently different that the difference could potentially be very important to the reader or the plot. In some cases, there is only one technically, grammatically, or logically correct interpretation, but it's so easy to misinterpret or mis-write that most people end up getting it wrong at first. In other cases, multiple interpretations are arguably grammatically correct. In both Real Life and fiction, this is usually Played for Laughs, because the incorrect interpretation typically leads to an absurdity. A "man eating chicken" (note missing hyphen) seems to be an especially popular variant. Legend sometimes attributes the origin of this one to notorious Hoaxer P.T. Barnum, but it's unclear what the actual origin is. Another popular comedic variant is: "You see this object here? When I nod my head, hit it as hard as you can." Yet another common variant: A cries, "X!" referring to seeing an X approaching, but B interprets it as the answer to his preceding rhetorical question. If someone catches on to the ambiguous syntax and asks for clarification on whether the object being referred to is X or Y, it's not uncommon to be met with "Yes". On a more serious note, however, ambiguous syntax is sometimes used in false advertising so that the advertiser can claim they explained everything, and it was the consumer's fault for misinterpreting the statement. Likewise, in myth and legend, prophecies often includes ambiguous syntax, to make it more difficult to determine the exact details of a predicted event until it actually occurs. It is especially abused by the Literal Genie, to grant a wish in a way not intended by the speaker. Wikipedia lists more examples here. This can easily happen in English, where there is a lot more room for ambiguity due to lack of case marking and grammatical gender (languages with one or both of those usually require adjectives and nouns to agree on gender and case, so you know a feminine adjective couldn't refer to a masculine noun). It's also awfully common in Latin (ironically a language with case marking AND genders) due to the freer word order. Subtrope to Double Meaning. Compare Wanton Cruelty to the Common Comma, Prophecy Twist, False Reassurance, Exact Words, Confusing Multiple Negatives, I Know You Know I Know, Who's on First?, and That Came Out Wrong. For issues caused by spacing rather than syntax, see The Problem with Pen Island. For cases (in-universe and out) where a bit of text is taken for the character's name, see Lady Mondegreen. When a statement has several meanings depending on how it is written, see Punctuation Changes the Meaning. |
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HoistByTheirOwnPetard | |
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| Ambiguous Syntax / int_10bc0a19 | type |
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In Night Watch Discworld, Carrot describes a crowd of refugees as "mostly human". Vimes has to stop him and ask if that means that the crowd was mostly made up of humans, or that each person in the crowd was partly human. Given the demographic makeup of Ankh-Morpork, that's an entirely reasonable question. | |
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Hours 'Verse: In As the Bells Toll, Minato states "Ryoji's Death". His poor wording causes the Phantom Thieves to think he's dying, when in reality he's the Anthropomorphic Personification of Death. | |
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An entire scene in The Well of Lost Plots is built on this, when Thursday meets a man with a hat named Wilbur (or something like that). The man is apparently cursed with bad syntax, and is constantly apologizing for it. | |
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In "Hare Brush," Bugs reads the instructions on a medicine bottle: "Take one teaspoon every hour with water" He shrugs and pops a teaspoon in his mouth and downs the required glass of water. | |
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Similarly to the Ninja Assassin example listed under Films — Live-Action, previous to its debut, the Netflix series Wu Assassins never specified in any of the promotional material if the titular character was a Wu who worked as an assassin, or someone who went around killing Wus. | |
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Let's Go Luna!: Part of the plot of "London Frog" is that Andy overhears someone mentioning the clock tower Big Ben in such a way that he interprets it as "Big Ben is a giant with four faces who carries around and rings a giant bell every hour". | |
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One episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has witnesses hear a struggle and a girl screaming "Don't! Stop!" Afterward, she's found beaten and bruised, and her boyfriend is arrested for it. Turns out she was trying to induce an abortion, so she and her boyfriend were both pummeling her stomach, and she was actually screaming "Don't stop!" to encourage her boyfriend to continue the assault. | |
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In an episode of Kate & Allie, Allie finds an envelope on the sidewalk. When she opens it, she announces, "It contains five hundred dollar bills!" Kate asks, "Is that five hundred dollar bills, or five hundred-dollar bills, or an unspecified number of five-hundred dollar bills?" (It's the third option, specifically $5000 in $500-dollar bills.) | |
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The chorus of Camila Cabello's "Something's Gotta Give" includes the line "No reason to stay is a good reason to go." Now, does that mean that having no reason to stay means you should leave, or that having a reason that you should stay cancels out a reason to leave? | |
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Lesbian Vampire Killers: a debate occurred on this very wiki about whether this movie would be about lesbians who killed vampires, lesbian vampires who were killers or people who killed lesbian vampires. It turned out to be the third option, although the second also applies. | |
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Count Duckula: The episode "Igor's Busy Day" has a joke involving Igor enlisting Nanny in triggering a Falling Chandelier of Doom for castle vistors with the instruction: "Hit the beak, Nanny!". He meant for Nanny to press the beak of a statue to activate the Booby Trap, but Nanny thought he meant his own beak. In "Dr. Goosewing and Mr. Duck", Nanny serves Duckula muesli for breakfast. When Duckula finds it appetizing, he tells her, "Hit me with some muesli, Nanny!", and Nanny hits him with the box. When he asks Nanny why she did that, she tells him she only did what he told her to, to which he has to remind her that it's a figure of speech and that he meant for her to put the muesli in a bowl. When Nanny brings Duckula a bottle of Dr. Von Goosewing's carpet shampooer disguised as milk, Duckula is about to say, "Splash me with some milk!", but quickly corrects himself and tells Nanny to splash his muesli with milk. |
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Munchkin: The "... of Doom!" card, resulting in "Bow with Ribbons... of Doom!". The question came up whether it was the bow or the ribbons that were "of doom". Then add in to this the "...of my Grandfather" card from Munchkin Fu and you can have such gems as the "Big Black .45... of Doom... of my Grandfather" which leads one to think that the gun killed the grandfather. Or, in the other order: "Big Black .45... of my Grandfather... of Doom" brings up whether it's the gun or the grandfather that is "of doom". |
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A sketch in the Sheep in the Big City episode "Mistaken Identi-Sheep" featured the Sombrero Brothers attempting to perform a stunt with a man eating cheese. Rather than the cheese eating people, the stunt was one of the Sombrero Brothers eating the cheese while restrained in stocks. | |
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In Good Luck Charlie, PJ is offering cats, with a sign saying "Cats, $20." | |
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1939 film serial The Phantom Creeps: creeps who are phantoms, or someone called The Phantom who creeps? | |
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In the Punyverse arc of Sluggy Freelance, after the transport that Torg and Riff are on leaves the planet, Lord Grater's men destroy the planet. Why? Because Lord Grater told them if any ship escaped the planet, they were to destroy it immediately. Cue Face Palm. | |
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The Little Rascals had a "three foot man eating chicken" in a freak show. It was one of the kids wearing a fake mustache, and eating from a bucket of chicken. | |
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In the live-action remake of Aladdin, Genie points out the "gray area" of Aladdin's request to "Make me a prince", explaining that it can be taken two different ways: "Make me a prince" as in producing a prince for Aladdin*(Prince: Yo! Y'all seen my palace?) or "Make me a prince" as in turning Aladdin into a prince.*(Prince: I just wanna go home, man.) | |
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Kingdom Hearts Ψ: The Seeker of Darkness: In Ground Rules, When Riku finds one of the notes Roxas and Xion have been leaving for each other and questions Sora about it. | |
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In one episode of TaleSpin, while fighting the heroes, Don Karnage tells his crew to "Fire at will!". A second later, one of the men is being chased by gunfire. The pirates had thought Karnage meant Will, the second mate. He has to clarify his order by bluntly saying "FIRE AT THE SEA DUCK!". | |
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In Love Me Tonight (1932), a classic exchange between Gilbert and Valentine after Jeanette has a fainting spell. | |
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There's also this little exchange from Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: | |
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| Ambiguous Syntax / int_21b21f35 | comment |
From BoJack Horseman, when Katrina reveals that her political rival's hand transfers came from a pedophile-murderer: | |
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| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2212773a | comment |
The RPG based on Angel had a character template who was a rogue demon hunter (that is, a demon who hunted other demons) as a direct reference to the line in the page quote. | |
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| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2275c659 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2275c659 | comment |
In one episode of House, while House and Wilson are living together, House wanders out into the kitchen in the nude, and ends up crossing paths with Wilson's new girlfriend who had spent the night. When he tells Wilson about the encounter, he phrases it as, "I bumped into your babe, naked". This causes Wilson (quite possibly by House's design) to initially misunderstand exactly who was naked in that scenario. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2275c659 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2275c659 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| House | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_2275c659 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_22fb2175 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_22fb2175 | comment |
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is full of this. Possibly the best example: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_22fb2175 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_22fb2175 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Theatre) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_22fb2175 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2350acad | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2350acad | comment |
Cheers: One episode has Rebecca hold Sam at gunpoint, but she doesn't shoot. She then goes "I'm sorry the gun wasn't loaded", before clarifying she means she's sorry for pointing the gun at Sam, and that it wasn't loaded. In the final episode, Frasier heads off by saying Lilith asked him to pick up a Chinese for dinner. He's fairly certain she meant Chinese takeaway. |
|
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2350acad | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2350acad | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Cheers | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_2350acad | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_24ffd341 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_24ffd341 | comment |
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: In "The ANTI-Social Network", Dennis tries to find the man who shushed the Gang in a bar. He posts drawings of the guy around town with the writing "RUDE MAN WHO SHUSHES PLEASE CALL", along with his own phone number — and keeps getting called by rude men who shush him. It's Charlie of all people who lampshades the problem to him. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_24ffd341 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_24ffd341 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_24ffd341 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2590d8fa | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2590d8fa | comment |
Discworld: In the comic-book adaptation of Mort, when Ysabell drags Mort to the kitchen saying "Father says you must be fed", he replies with a nervous "Er, what to?" | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2590d8fa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2590d8fa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Discworld (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_2590d8fa | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_261c8d3f | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_261c8d3f | comment |
The Simpsons: In "Treehouse of Horror VI", school janitor Willie has left a note over the thermostat reading "Do Not Touch - Willie." Homer takes a look and says, "'Do not touch Willie.' Good advice!" and proceeds to turn up the thermostat, leading to played-for-laughs tragic results. In "Lisa on Ice", Bart and Lisa are playing opposing pee-wee hockey teams. The half of the stadium cheering for Bart chants "KILL, BART!", while the half cheering for Lisa chants "KILL BART!". In "The Bob Next Door", Bart is worried that his new neighbour Walt Warren is actually Sideshow Bob, and he and Marge go to the prison and see someone who looks like Bob writing "Bart Simpson will die" all over the wall. It turns out that the neighbour really is Bob, who surgically swapped faces with the real Walt Warren and was released from prison because Warren's sentence was over. Warren, who now looked like Bob, wrote "Bart Simpson will die" as a warning. In "Two Bad Neighbors", George H.W. Bush puts up a poster that says "Two bad neighbors" with very crude drawings of Homer and Bart, but everybody gets confused by it. In "Bart's Girlfriend", Jessica Lovejoy steals the money from the church's collection plate and pins it on Bart. Lisa later gives a sermon in an attempt to pressure Jessica into confessing. However, her sermon prompts other parishioners to admit to various deeds. |
|
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_261c8d3f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_261c8d3f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Simpsons | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_261c8d3f | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_276e8679 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_276e8679 | comment |
In Ashens' video on "20 Year Old Egg and Bacon Baby Food", one comment expressed confusion over whether the video was about 20 year old baby food containing egg and bacon, or about a 20 year old egg and some bacon-flavoured baby food (it's the first option). | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_276e8679 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_276e8679 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Stuart Ashen (Web Video) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_276e8679 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_27831967 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_27831967 | comment |
In the Parks and Recreation episode in which Ben and Leslie get married, Andy sees Leslie in her wedding dress: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_27831967 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_27831967 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Parks and Recreation | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_27831967 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_28a77926 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_28a77926 | comment |
The Librarians (2014): In "And the Steal of Fortune", Jenkins is converting a toaster into a machine that can scan new artefacts as they arrive in the Library. He tells Jones it's a "new artefact tester", and Jones immediately asks what happened to the old artefact tester. When Jenkins clarifies "a tester for new artefacts", Jones replies "All right. And what happened to our old tester for new artefacts?" | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_28a77926 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_28a77926 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Librarians (2014) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_28a77926 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2bbcacd9 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2bbcacd9 | comment |
Looney Tunes: A vintage short, "The Ducksters" has Daffy Duck as the host of a quiz show, "Brought to you by the Eagle Hand-Laundry. Are your eagle's hands dirty? We'll wash 'em clean!" "Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century": Daffy Duck (Duck Dodgers) uses a Disintegrating Pistol against Marvin the Martian. Unfortunately, Daffy's pistol crumbles into powder when he pulls the trigger. He also dons a "Disintegration-Proof Vest" — which remains intact while utterly failing to protect him from being disintegrated. Bugs and Daffy have a Duck Season, Rabbit Season argument in Rabbit Seasoning: In "Hare Brush," Bugs reads the instructions on a medicine bottle: "Take one teaspoon every hour with water" He shrugs and pops a teaspoon in his mouth and downs the required glass of water. In "Bugs and Thugs", Rocky tells Mugsy to take Bugs into the other room and "Let him have it". Bugs takes advantage of this, holding out his hand for Mugsy's gun and telling the not-too-bright Mugsy to "Let me have it". Babbitt sends Catstello up a ladder to get Tweety in "A Tale of Two Kitties": |
|
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2bbcacd9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2bbcacd9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Looney Tunes | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_2bbcacd9 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2c9d337d | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2c9d337d | comment |
Human Killing Machine, a Street Fighter knockoff for early gaming computers such as the Amiga and Commodore 64. As Stuart Ashen put it: "Is it about a human who is a killing machine? Or a machine that kills humans?" | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2c9d337d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2c9d337d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Human Killing Machine (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_2c9d337d | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2cfe43cb | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2cfe43cb | comment |
In the Adventures in Odyssey episode "A License to Drive", Connie is attempting to teach Eugene Meltzner to drive, when they encounter a stopped vehicle with a pregnant woman in it. When attempting to get the woman to the hospital, Connie has Eugene drive, while she tries to comfort the pregnant woman. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2cfe43cb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2cfe43cb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Adventures in Odyssey (Radio) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_2cfe43cb | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2d311a08 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2d311a08 | comment |
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode "It Came from Beneath the Sewers", the Turtles sneak up on Shredder's hideout disguised as pizza boys, leading to this exchange between Shredder and Baxter Stockman: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2d311a08 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2d311a08 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_2d311a08 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2e1df124 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2e1df124 | comment |
In Wreck-It Ralph, King Candy tries to escape Ralph's fury by putting on a pair of glasses and saying "You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses, would you?" Ralph proceeds to slap King Candy upside the head with the frames. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2e1df124 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2e1df124 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Wreck-It Ralph | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_2e1df124 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2fe9d705 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2fe9d705 | comment |
This triggers Ben's breakdown in Follies, as his refrain of "Me, I like live/Me, I like to laugh/Me, I like to love" becomes "Me, I like to love/Me..." | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2fe9d705 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_2fe9d705 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Follies (Theatre) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_2fe9d705 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3077dde8 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3077dde8 | comment |
The Fairly OddParents: Shadow Showdown has this bit of dialogue between Cosmo and Wanda in "Fairly Disastrous": | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3077dde8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3077dde8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Fairly OddParents: Shadow Showdown (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_3077dde8 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_30e6cf71 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_30e6cf71 | comment |
The title of Demon Eater is another "both" example: Saturno is a demon who eats, and an eater of demons. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_30e6cf71 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_30e6cf71 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Demon Eater (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_30e6cf71 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_310d6df7 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_310d6df7 | comment |
Stand Still, Stay Silent: Mikkel's in-comic interrupted "I'd say so. Well technically..." concerning him being the oldest of his siblings came before an All There in the Manual reveal that he was the youngest of a pair of twins, that contained no clear indication of his brother Michael's current status. A casual confirmation that Michael was still alive came only much later. In the meantime, the interrupted statement could be interpreted both as Mikkel about to mention that he technically has an older brother or Mikkel stating to technically be the oldest, which would have hinted to something having happened to Michael. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_310d6df7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_310d6df7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Stand Still, Stay Silent (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_310d6df7 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_316ce2ea | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_316ce2ea | comment |
Sometimes used as one of Roger the Dodger's scams in The Beano, such as selling tickets to see the "Man Eating Fish"... which turns out to be a man, eating fish (and chips). | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_316ce2ea | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_316ce2ea | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Beano (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_316ce2ea | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_32a01588 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_32a01588 | comment |
Pinocchio: Geppetto tells Pinocchio to say hello to Figaro. Pinocchio promptly says, "Hello to Figaro." | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_32a01588 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_32a01588 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Pinocchio | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_32a01588 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_33379487 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_33379487 | comment |
From The King's Speech: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_33379487 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_33379487 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The King's Speech | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_33379487 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3361ad0c | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3361ad0c | comment |
The InBESTigators: Ava and Kyle are vlogging about a recent case that the team solved. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3361ad0c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3361ad0c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The InBESTigators | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_3361ad0c | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_34737484 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_34737484 | comment |
In an episode of The Latest Buzz, a psychic tells Michael that he will encounter "a 6-foot man eating chicken". He then sees his teacher, who is 6 feet tall, eating chicken and becomes convinced that the psychic is genuine. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_34737484 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_34737484 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Latest Buzz | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_34737484 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_35a060cc | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_35a060cc | comment |
Airplane!: Ambiguous syntax? What is it? It's the use of sentences which could be interpreted in multiple ways due to syntax problems, but that's not important right now. No, actually, it's something that the film loved to do: The film's Running Gag involves a character asking, "What is it?" and getting the wrong right response: Ted Striker takes his seat on the plane, and his seatmate thinks he's a little scared of flying: Ted, while narrating a flashback, admits he developed a "drinking problem" — depicted by his sudden inability to drink, missing his mouth and splashing the whole glass on his face. Ted protests that his wartime flying experience doesn't mean he can fly a passenger jet: Steve McCroskey gets the weather briefing and hands it to Johnny, hoping for some good news: And the film's most famous: |
|
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_35a060cc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_35a060cc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Airplane! | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_35a060cc | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_35af2104 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_35af2104 | comment |
In The Fifth Elephant, when Carrot wants to follow Angua to Uberwald and resigns from the Watch without explaining why, Lord Vetinari says "Nevertheless, it is a long way to Uberwald." Carrot asks "How did you know?" and Vetinari, of course, explains that people have measured it. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_35af2104 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_35af2104 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Fifth Elephant | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_35af2104 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_35c26a72 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_35c26a72 | comment |
"A Good Day is Hard to Find" by Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott. Are the following lines in the chorus saying that "these days" are filled with mediocrities, which is why a good day is hard to find, or that "these days" are so bad that even a day filled with mediocrities would be a good one? | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_35c26a72 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_35c26a72 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Beautiful South (Music) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_35c26a72 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_36395288 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_36395288 | comment |
In the Kirby Sprite Comic Warp Star, during a crossover arc with Super Mario Bros., Bowser has claimed the Star Rod (the Kirby version, which for the sake of the plot is the same as the Star Rod from Paper Mario 64) and wishes that it would make him a sandwich, but it interprets "make" as "turn into". After turning back to normal, he wishes that it would make Mario and Luigi two sandwiches, and this time it interprets "make" as "create" (Bowser's original intention), prompting Bowser to say "Oh, come on!" | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_36395288 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_36395288 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Kirby (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_36395288 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_367f632a | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_367f632a | comment |
Dawn of War Retribution has the Big Bad Moon Shoota. The description says it best: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_367f632a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_367f632a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dawn of War (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_367f632a | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_38938d11 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_38938d11 | comment |
Conjoined: When Stanley tells Jerry that his idea to separate Aline and Alisa is a good one, we get this conversation. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_38938d11 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_38938d11 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Conjoined | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_38938d11 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_38ecf7 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_38ecf7 | comment |
DC: The New Frontier: Johnny Cloud's message to Flagg warning him about the Centre mentions a dangerous creature, "an all-consuming circle that dwarfs the monsters that roam this cursed place. It is a living thing." Flagg and the Challengers of the Unknown wonder why Johnny bothered to emphasize that the monster that's bigger than all the ones they've seen so far is living. They don't realize that the means the living "all-consuming circle" is "this cursed place": Dinosaur Island itself. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_38ecf7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_38ecf7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| DC: The New Frontier (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_38ecf7 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3972e6b | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3972e6b | comment |
Touhou Eiyashou ~ Imperishable Night had a bit of fun with this, when Marisa points out the different meanings "troublesome youkai hunting" can have. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3972e6b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3972e6b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Touhou Eiyashou ~ Imperishable Night (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_3972e6b | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3b182a22 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3b182a22 | comment |
In the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow", La'an is confronted by a dying time traveler who gives her a device and tells her to "get to the bridge". Being on the Enterprise, she assumes that bridge, only to discover she's on an Alternate Timeline bridge with Kirk as captain. Once the two are swept up and sent to 21st century Toronto, they have absolutely no idea what to do until a bridge is blown up, setting them on the right path. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3b182a22 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3b182a22 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_3b182a22 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3b73f906 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3b73f906 | comment |
"Paw and Order", an episode of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh has a gang of horse thieves as the villains, which in this case aren't thieves that steal horses, but thieves that are horses. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3b73f906 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3b73f906 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_3b73f906 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3c18c35f | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3c18c35f | comment |
Things I Am Not Allowed to Do at the PPC: Rule 558 prohibits bringing "a Trojan" into the tech department. The next sentence clarifies that "Trojan" means a Greek warrior from Troy and mentions that the ambiguity will scare the technicians about the possibility of the computer virus of the same name being present instead. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3c18c35f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3c18c35f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Things I Am Not Allowed to Do at the PPC (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_3c18c35f | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3c369743 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3c369743 | comment |
In one Captain Britain story featuring Captain Airstrip-One, an alternate Captain Britain who represents the Britain of Nineteen Eighty-Four, Captain Airstrip-One is told by his superior to "imagine a boot stomping on a face forever." Captain Airstrip-One, who has no will of his own, happily obliges, but misinterprets the order — he thought he was meant to imagine that image forever, so he does, effectively making this mission his last. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3c369743 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3c369743 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Captain Britain (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_3c369743 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3cd90f30 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3cd90f30 | comment |
Arrested Development: Dr. Fishman does this as a Running Gag, making ambiguous statements about patients' conditions that badly miscast the situation: He tells the Bluths that George Sr., critically ill following a heart attack in prison, "got away from us", and they "lost him". (Because he faked the symptoms and escaped from the hospital). He tells the Bluths that Buster will be "all right" after being attacked by a seal. (Because the seal bit off his left hand.) He tells Michael that there's nothing he can do to treat his illness. (Because his case has been assigned to another doctor.) He tells the Bluths that it looks like Tobias is dead. (Because he's covered in blue paint.) He tells Lindsay she looks hot. (Because she has a fever.) He tells his interns that Tobias broke his skull in two places. (Once in the street, and once in the hospital hallway where he fell off the gurney.) He tells Lucille that Buster went down piloting a plane that crashed in Afghanistan (he was piloting it remotely, fainting when the machine crashed), but the Army gave him a "big hand" (a super-high tech prosthetic hand). The series gets a lot of mileage out of George-Michael's cousin Maeby, who may or may not be his cousin after all. Her alter-ego Shirley, however, doesn't exist at all. Buster has an argument he had with his mother about him dating her social rival, Lucille II: |
|
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3cd90f30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3cd90f30 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Arrested Development | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_3cd90f30 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3cf47b5f | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3cf47b5f | comment |
Invoked in an ad for Wolf Insurance; that is, an insurance company owned by a person named Wolf. It shows Little Red Riding Hood going through the forest when she hears some growling, and brandishes legal documents before continuing unmolested, "Wolf Insurance" here implying insurance against wolves. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3cf47b5f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3cf47b5f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Little Red Riding Hood | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_3cf47b5f | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3d10c6d1 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3d10c6d1 | comment |
Animal Crackers: Captain Spaulding's speech in contains one of the most famous examples of all time: In the same speech, he also says, "We took some pictures of the native girls, but they weren't developed. So we're going back again in a couple of weeks..." |
|
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3d10c6d1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3d10c6d1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Animal Crackers (Theatre) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_3d10c6d1 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3d58d686 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3d58d686 | comment |
In one between-episode segment on Uncle Grandpa, he asks his friends if they know how to play their instruments. They tell him "No" and proceed to play badly. In a follow-up short, he says that they lied to him and do know how to play their instruments, because he didn't ask if they knew how to play them well. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3d58d686 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3d58d686 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Uncle Grandpa | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_3d58d686 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3e5de40b | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3e5de40b | comment |
"It's a riddle. Two guys destroyed your bike with a crowbar and a bat. One of them wasn't me." | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3e5de40b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3e5de40b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Scrubs | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_3e5de40b | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3e77214f | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3e77214f | comment |
In an episode of Selfie, Henry has the wrong idea about the song "Working For the Weekend" by Loverboy, he thinks its about working during the weekend, and he tells this (even singing it with a coworker in an elevator) to Eliza to encourage her to do something nice on the weekend. Another co-worker explains the song is actually about working during the week so that you can have fun on the weekend, and Henry declares he's going to delete that song from his playlist. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3e77214f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3e77214f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Selfie | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_3e77214f | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3f4a104b | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3f4a104b | comment |
Dilbert: An investment adviser describes a strategy in which his lawyers put the money in little bags and trained dogs bury them around town. He is asked whether they bury the bags or the lawyers, and replies that they've tried it both ways. Another example involves Ratbert having a cat trying to eat his head. Dogbert proposed a solution to Bob the Dinosaur: "I'll yank the cat off Ratbert's head, and you stomp on it." The next panel had Ratbert under Bob's foot and Dogbert saying, "In retrospect, I could have phrased that better." Dilbert and his colleagues gets good mileage out of these as a way of giving Stealth Insults to their clueless boss. For example, after the boss spouts off his usual management gibberish, he says "I don't think I can be any clearer". Dilbert agrees with him. |
|
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3f4a104b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_3f4a104b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dilbert (Comic Strip) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_3f4a104b | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_423ca36c | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_423ca36c | comment |
From Young Frankenstein after the cast hear a wolf howling. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_423ca36c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_423ca36c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Young Frankenstein | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_423ca36c | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_426a7572 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_426a7572 | comment |
Animaniacs: In the episode "King Yakko", when the dictator of Dunlikus is defending his fashion choices. There are many other examples too, the most notable being "Garage Sale of the Century", in which the Warners interpret it as an actual sale of a garage. This exchange from "Hercule Yakko". In "Turkey Jerky", after Miles Standish tells the Warners to "Give me the bird!" (a literal bird, in this case the titular turkey), Yakko replies, "We'd love to, really, but the FOX censors won't allow it." In "The Warners & the Beanstalk", after Dot pulls out one of the giant's nose hairs, he protests "Ow! That smarted me!" Yakko's response is "I doubt it." This Good Idea, Bad Idea sketch gives us the following: |
|
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_426a7572 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_426a7572 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Animaniacs | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_426a7572 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_42c05590 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_42c05590 | comment |
Rocko's Modern Life: In "Driving Mrs. Wolfe", Rocko and Virginia drive past a sign reading "Slow Children At Play". It then cuts to two kids playing catch in slow-motion. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_42c05590 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_42c05590 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Rocko's Modern Life | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_42c05590 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_42ffb88e | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_42ffb88e | comment |
The SCP Foundation has a "Six-Foot-Tall Man Eating Chicken". The SCP object is described as follows: "SCP-3467 is a six (6) foot tall, two hundred (200) pound man eating chicken. Subject is thirty five (35), slightly balding, dark brown hair and eyes, and slightly overweight. Name is Hank ██████████, and he has worked as a Level 1 cleanup crew for the past three years. Hank is never seen without a bucket of chicken, and only stops eating it when actually working, which is a rare occurrence in itself." Which is in turn a reference to The Little Rascals. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_42ffb88e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_42ffb88e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| SCP Foundation (Website) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_42ffb88e | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_44345e0a | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_44345e0a | comment |
In Gardens of the Moon, the first book in Malazan Book of the Fallen, a character named Sorry is asked for her name. When she replies truthfully, the other party shrugs it off as a case of amnesia. Sorry doesn't bother to correct him. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_44345e0a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_44345e0a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Gardens of the Moon | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_44345e0a | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_44e0b783 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_44e0b783 | comment |
Garfield: In one strip, there's this exchange between Jon and his friend Lyman regarding Jon's decision to have Garfield declawed: Jon remarks to Garfield "touch my food and die!" meaning "there will be consequences if you eat my food". Garfield, of course, reacts to that as if it's a statement "if you touch my food you will die" replying "your food isn't that bad". One strip had Jon fixing up a double date for him and his brother, Doc Boy. The following conversation accidentally adds Incest Subtext |
|
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_44e0b783 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_44e0b783 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Garfield (Comic Strip) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_44e0b783 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_455e3038 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_455e3038 | comment |
King of the Hill: In "Of Mice and Little Green Men", Dale becomes interested in purchasing some alien urine. When he asks the man selling it "How much?", the man answers "Half a mayonnaise jar". The man is clearly referring to how much alien urine he has, but Dale thinks the man is saying that he has to pay half a mayonnaise jar. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_455e3038 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_455e3038 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| King of the Hill | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_455e3038 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_455ede40 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_455ede40 | comment |
One of the "That's My Merlee!" quiz questions in Super Paper Mario is "What do you wash first [in the bathtub]?" The real Merlee hears it as what part of her body she washes first, and the fake Merlee hears it as what part of the bathtub she washes first when cleaning it. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_455ede40 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_455ede40 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Super Paper Mario (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_455ede40 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_45b21df3 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_45b21df3 | comment |
Monty Python's Life of Brian brings us the trope-naming "We ARE Struggling Together" | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_45b21df3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_45b21df3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Monty Python's Life of Brian | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_45b21df3 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_46131776 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_46131776 | comment |
In Jerkcity, Spigot tells a story of an old man asking him, "Wanna pounda dope?" and when he answers in the affirmative, he gets pounded in the face and realizes he is the dope. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_46131776 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_46131776 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Jerkcity (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_46131776 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_468bebb0 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_468bebb0 | comment |
Discworld: Lord Vetinari's verbal signature - literally, since he uses it to indicate that the current meeting is definitively over - is "Don't let me detain you." On the surface, it's a courteous suggestion that he shouldn't take up any more of his interlocutor's valuable time. Underneath, it's a subtle reminder that as the tyrant of Ankh-Morpork he can detain-as-in-arrest anyone for any reason...and you should not GIVE him a reason to do so. The Truth has a few jokes about not only ambiguous headlines, but trying to compensate for them, such as "Patrician Attacks Clerk With Knife (he had the knife, not the clerk)". In the same book, Mr. Tulip uses a phrase (via his Verbal Tic swearing) that is misinterpreted due to this: An earlier appearance of this particular Verbal Tic appears in Mort, as does another case of unclear syntax (this time via Literalist Snarking): In Night Watch Discworld, Carrot describes a crowd of refugees as "mostly human". Vimes has to stop him and ask if that means that the crowd was mostly made up of humans, or that each person in the crowd was partly human. Given the demographic makeup of Ankh-Morpork, that's an entirely reasonable question. In Snuff a character says "I'm just a complicated chicken farmer!" By which he means he keeps complicated chickens. In Interesting Times, an oracle is asked to predict the outcome of the climactic battle, but doesn't know what answer to give Lord Hong. So he says with confidence that 'The enemy will be defeated' and then leaves before he is asked whose enemy (it helps that the question that is asked is "Are you sure?", which also lets him leave, apparently in a huff over being doubted.) In the Tourist's Guide To Lancre, there's mention of a Headless Horseman who haunts Magrat's home village. How the reins stay on is something of a mystery. Death's manservant Albert is actually a wizard named Alberto Malich, who attempted to become immortal by casting the "summon Death" spell backwards, believing it would repel Death. Instead, it summons him from his home to Death's home. Technically it still worked, since Death was willing to negotiate when he got there. In Soul Music, Ridcully, searching for the rest of the senior wizards, tells Ponder Stibbons "I've lost my faculty." Ponder replies "For what, Archchancellor?" There's a Running Gag in Reaper Man about the zombified Windle Poons having "eyes like gimlets", which is interpreted in at least once instance as "eyes like Gimlet's", "that dwarf who runs the delicatessen on Cable Street". (Taking the joke further, official art by both Paul Kidby and David Wyatt suggests that Gimlet does have a very penetrating stare.) In Unseen Academicals an urchin asks Ridcully "'Ow do I know I can trust you?" and Ridcully replies "The workings of the mind are a mystery to me too, but I'm glad that is your belief." In The Fifth Elephant, when Carrot wants to follow Angua to Uberwald and resigns from the Watch without explaining why, Lord Vetinari says "Nevertheless, it is a long way to Uberwald." Carrot asks "How did you know?" and Vetinari, of course, explains that people have measured it. According to the Ankh-Morpork Post Office Diary, the youngest person ever to be sacked from the Post Office lost his position when a packet clearly marked "PRICELESS ENGRAVINGS DO NOT BEND" was delivered with the additional message "YES THEY DO". |
|
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_468bebb0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_468bebb0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Discworld | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_468bebb0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_48badada | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_48badada | comment |
From the Maya the Bee movie: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_48badada | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_48badada | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Maya the Bee | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_48badada | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4962e658 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4962e658 | comment |
In Mean Girls: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4962e658 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4962e658 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mean Girls | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_4962e658 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_49a87cb3 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_49a87cb3 | comment |
Final Fantasy VII has an infamous and decidedly unintentional example in the Guard Scorpion fight. At one point Cloud will say "Attack while its tail is up! It will counter attack with a laser!". The intended meaning was "Attack while its tail is up, and it will counter attack with a laser" (in other words, don't attack when its tail is up). Instead, most players interpreted it is as "Attack while its tail is up! Or else it will counter attack with a laser!" As such many players did exactly the opposite of what they were supposed to do. It didn't help that "Attack while its tail is up!" appeared in its own text box, making it sound like an imperative statement to do what it says, rather than a warning not to. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_49a87cb3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_49a87cb3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Final Fantasy VII (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_49a87cb3 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_49ad83ee | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_49ad83ee | comment |
The flavor text on at least one item in World of Warcraft exhibits this. On the Shop Fodder item "Robot Brew": | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_49ad83ee | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_49ad83ee | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| World of Warcraft (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_49ad83ee | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4b306707 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4b306707 | comment |
An episode of Hey Dude! featured Buddy trying to prove that hypnosis works by hypnotizing Jake, who is eating a bowl of cereal, into pouring the cereal over his head. Meaning Buddy wants the cereal on Jake's head, not his own. Jake plays along just so he can abuse this trope, along with Pronoun Trouble: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4b306707 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4b306707 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Hey Dude! | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_4b306707 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4bae79b2 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4bae79b2 | comment |
In The AFR Universe story "Boys and Queens", Ryuji calls Ren and Makoto how he wound up in a scandal due to having his picture taken by a "pop rat". | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4bae79b2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4bae79b2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The AFR Universe (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_4bae79b2 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4c44acb7 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4c44acb7 | comment |
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue Sometimes used in the Complete Quotes round, for example: In the Christmas Episode Humph in Wonderland, when the narrator says that Humph saw the White Rabbit take a watch from his waistcoat pocket, Humph cries out "Come back with my watch!" "And now, to introduce our panellists - four comedians who love amusing people. Not that they meet many amusing people." |
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| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4c44acb7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4c44acb7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (Radio) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_4c44acb7 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4e45b093 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4e45b093 | comment |
The Big Bang Theory: In "The Wheaton Recurrence" Sheldon & the gang are playing a bowling match against a team that includes his rival Wil Wheaton, so he makes team t-shirts for everyone. In an attempt at a Take That! towards Wheaton and his Star Trek character “Wesley Crusher�, Sheldon has every shirt labeled with his appointed team name: “The Wesley Crushers�. Sheldon intended it to mean that they will crush Wesley, but everyone else thinks it means he named the team directly after Wheaton’s character. It doesn't help that when Penny points this out, he just keeps saying "not the Wesley Crushers, the Wesley Crushers" saying it implies they will be the "Crushers" of "Wesley", instead of simply saying that "it means we're gonna crush Wesley." Of course, when Wheaton arrives, he finds it hilarious that Sheldon named the team after his character, to which Sheldon gives up on the name. In the episode "The Zazzy Substitution", after the intervention for Sheldon's cat hoarding, Sheldon and Amy are finding home for the cats with the sign "Cats $20". A scene in "The Indecision Amalgamation" has Penny and Leonard looking over a terrible movie script she's been offered. |
|
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4e45b093 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4e45b093 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Big Bang Theory | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_4e45b093 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4e98bd99 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4e98bd99 | comment |
Petscop: The game/series' title itself, as it's not exactly clear what it means. Either "Pet's Cop" or "Pet Scop". | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4e98bd99 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_4e98bd99 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Petscop (Web Video) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_4e98bd99 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_503d3d54 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_503d3d54 | comment |
In The Rocky Horror Picture Show, in the song "Charles Atlas", Frank N. Furter makes the claim, "In just seven days, I can make you a man." Since he has just unveiled the man he made for himself, it's fairly clear which way he means that. The opening credits refer to the dead Eddie as an "Ex Delivery Boy", prompting fans to shout "What kind of delivery boy delivers exes?". |
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| Ambiguous Syntax / int_503d3d54 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_503d3d54 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Rocky Horror Picture Show | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_503d3d54 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_503d5009 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_503d5009 | comment |
Ayakashi Triangle: As a villain, Hinojiki's main power was "Devouring Shadow", a Living Shadow that eats Life Energy. After his Heel–Face Turn, it's replaced with "Wicked Devourer", and Sosuke's inner monologue specifies the "wicked" are the ones being devoured to protect the innocent. The ambiguity is even more direct in Japanese, where they're called "Kagebami (影食)" and "Magabami (�食)", which mean "Shadow/Evil Eater". | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_503d5009 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_503d5009 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ayakashi Triangle (Manga) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_503d5009 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_518cf6ff | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_518cf6ff | comment |
Guilty Gear -STRIVE-: That Man/Asuka R. Kreutz states in REVELATOR that he has a "score to settle" with Sol Badguy, and in STRIVE he says that his goal is to "erase Sol Badguy from the world". Said "score" turns out to be to free Sol from his uncontrollable Gear powers and turning him back into a normal man so he can live a peaceful life as Frederick Bulsara again. When he succeeds in doing so in the ending of STRIVE, he declares that "Sol Badguy has perished from the world." Finally burying the hatchet with his old friend. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_518cf6ff | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_518cf6ff | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Guilty Gear -STRIVE- (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_518cf6ff | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_52dce94 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_52dce94 | comment |
Paddington (1975) has also done the "when I nod my head, you hit it" joke. To Paddington's credit, he does ask Mr. Curry if he's sure that's what he wants, but Mr. Curry just tells him to be quiet and do as he's told... | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_52dce94 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_52dce94 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Paddington (1975) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_52dce94 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_53a0bd32 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_53a0bd32 | comment |
The Twilight Zone (1959) provides the classic example of "To Serve Man". An instruction manual on how to cater to human beings, or a cookbook with the best man-steak recipes? It wouldn't be The Twilight Zone if it were the former. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_53a0bd32 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_53a0bd32 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Twilight Zone (1959) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_53a0bd32 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5562da6a | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5562da6a | comment |
In an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun, Harry has gotten Easy Amnesia and forgotten he's an alien, but finds out the others are aliens and becomes paranoid about them: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5562da6a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5562da6a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| 3rd Rock from the Sun | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_5562da6a | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_55edacf5 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_55edacf5 | comment |
In the same vein, Ninja Assassin manages to accomplish this with only two words, as the trailers did not clarify whether the film was about a Ninja who assassinates people, or people who assassinate ninja. (As it turned out, it was about both.) | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_55edacf5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_55edacf5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ninja Assassin | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_55edacf5 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_56a63131 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_56a63131 | comment |
The Simpsons Movie: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_56a63131 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_56a63131 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Simpsons Movie | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_56a63131 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_56afadff | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_56afadff | comment |
In Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Eglantine is rummaging through her ingredients and pulls out "Poisoned Dragon's Liver." One of the children asks, "Did they poison the dragon, or just the liver?" Even she's not sure; it came already prepared. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_56afadff | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_56afadff | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Bedknobs and Broomsticks | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_56afadff | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_56e40a48 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_56e40a48 | comment |
This one isn't so comical. In the Supreme Power version of Squadron Supreme, Dr. Emil Burbank relates to Inertia the story of a poor family in Iran: When a man's wife and daughter were raped by extremist soldiers, he killed them. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_56e40a48 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_56e40a48 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Supreme Power (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_56e40a48 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5755b96a | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5755b96a | comment |
The Order of the Stick: The comic uses a similar garden-path sentence early on in its first arc: "When the goat turns red strikes true." Not long after, they're given a quest to kill a group of ogres by a peasant woman — however, Belkar initially thinks the plan is to kill the helpless villagers. Also when Thog (who pays no heed to grammar and often skips verbs) tries to explain that Nale stuck his goatee to his twin brother Elan so he'd end up in jail in his place: Also here, where a character is told about a "rogue cleric" and mistakenly assumes it means a character who is both a Rogue and a Cleric, rather than a cleric gone rogue. |
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| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5755b96a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5755b96a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Order of the Stick (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_5755b96a | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_57a3683f | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_57a3683f | comment |
Not Always Right: Posted sign in a bathroom: "Employees must wash hands before returning to work." (If no employee comes in to wash your hands, can you just wash them yourself?) Self-Disservice is a case of a Literal-Minded customer seeing such a sign and waiting in the restroom for someone to wash her hands for her. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_57a3683f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_57a3683f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Not Always Right (Website) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_57a3683f | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_588a4c4a | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_588a4c4a | comment |
A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017): Count Olaf, in disguise as "Stephano," vs. Mr. Poe. This happens when the Baudelaires try to warn Mr. Poe: Later, when Count Olaf first interacts with Aunt Josephine in his "Captain Sham" disguise: |
|
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_588a4c4a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_588a4c4a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_588a4c4a | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_58af2679 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_58af2679 | comment |
The Silence of the Lambs: "I do wish we could chat longer, but I'm having an old friend for dinner." | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_58af2679 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_58af2679 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Silence of the Lambs | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_58af2679 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_594c1f60 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_594c1f60 | comment |
In one event in Roommates, Sally leads a protest against a group of kids when she learns that they're "testing on animals." If you decide to go along with her plan to free the animals, she busts into the classroom and is shocked when she hears a horse whinny and discovers...a bunch of students riding animals and taking their exams at the same time (in other words, they're "testing on animals). Sally comments on the absurdity of the situation before going back outside and breaking up the protest. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_594c1f60 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_594c1f60 | featureConfidence |
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| Roommates (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_594c1f60 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_59593dcd | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_59593dcd | comment |
In Snuff a character says "I'm just a complicated chicken farmer!" By which he means he keeps complicated chickens. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_59593dcd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_59593dcd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Snuff | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_59593dcd | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_59da62aa | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_59da62aa | comment |
Done for narrative purposes in the Fallout: New Vegas expansion Dead Money. The epilogue for the companion characters, should they live, mentions the Courier and another, who "fought under an Old World banner at the edge of the world". This foreshadows Lonesome Road, and it applies to both possible outcomes: either you and Ulysses fight each other, or you talk him to death and the two of you fight together against the horde of enemies he had set up to attack you just in case you won your fight with him. Also Played for Laughs in the same game, where Fantastic, an idiot in charge of the Helios 1 facility, explains how he got his position. |
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1.0 | |
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| Fallout: New Vegas (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_59da62aa | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5a1e517c | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5a1e517c | comment |
Nodwick: One story that is a parody of the Dungeons & Dragons 2000's movie has it turn out that villain wasn't hunting the Rod of Red Dragon control, he was hunting the Rod of Read Dragon control: everyone mistook what he was after because they only heard him say it aloud instead of seeing it written down. He wanted to use its power to edit back issues of Dragon to give himself better stats. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5a1e517c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5a1e517c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Nodwick (Comic Strip) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_5a1e517c | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5a7b37c | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5a7b37c | comment |
Beacon (2018): The Explosive Armor. It's for protection against explosives, it doesn't explode: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5a7b37c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5a7b37c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Beacon (2018) (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_5a7b37c | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5afbc0cb | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5afbc0cb | comment |
This is an actual plot point in Undertale. The opening of the game asks you to "name the fallen human". Most people would think that this is referring to the Player Character. You're actually naming the Fallen Child, the human that fell down the mountain all those years ago. The protagonist is a separate person from the Fallen Child, and their Canon Name is Frisk. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5afbc0cb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5afbc0cb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Undertale (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_5afbc0cb | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5b8abe25 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5b8abe25 | comment |
Rusty and Co.: During the "Critical Missives" session following Level 11: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5b8abe25 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5b8abe25 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Rusty and Co. (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_5b8abe25 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5be6d558 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5be6d558 | comment |
In the Dinosaucers episode "Take Us Out to the Ballgame", Sarah is assigning the Dinosaucers positions on a baseball field, with Bonehead at the end as "left out". Bonehead starts crying about not being allowed to play; Sarah clarifies that she meant left outfield. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5be6d558 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5be6d558 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dinosaucers | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_5be6d558 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5c897f4a | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5c897f4a | comment |
Schlock Mercenary: Kevyn finding out about Lieutenant Pronto's death. In another strip Aardmann came to Dr. Bunnigan saying that he broke a tooth with his kidney. When she said that was impossible, he clarified that it wasn't his tooth. He'd been slammed into Chisulo, an uplifted elephant, while wearing armor, and broke off one of his tusks. Lampshaded here. The obvious syntax (that plant means spy) is the correct one but given everything that has happened Bunni decides to double-check and make sure that he wasn't some form of genetically engineered asparagus. |
|
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5c897f4a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5c897f4a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_5c897f4a | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5cec267a | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5cec267a | comment |
In the Defiance episode "This Woman's Work", Stahma Tarr is being harassed by the holy man Kurr who vows to "see [her] on a shaming rack." She arranges for him to be put on a shaming rack and makes sure he sees her when she casts her stone. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5cec267a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5cec267a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Defiance | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_5cec267a | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5ed20d91 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5ed20d91 | comment |
This is used twice in one of the Greyfriars stories. Bunter is on holiday and in Singapore with some other boys from his school. Too lazy to walk, and with no rickshaws (or means of summoning one) in sight, the following conversation takes place: Shortly after, a rickshaw comes along but Bunter is a bit too fat for the flimsy rickshaw. He only gets a slight bump from the rickshaw collapsing but immediately wants an ambulance anyway. |
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| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5ed20d91 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5ed20d91 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Greyfriars | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_5ed20d91 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5f89c8b8 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5f89c8b8 | comment |
In PS238, when the Flea is looking for Zodon: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5f89c8b8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_5f89c8b8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| PS238 (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_5f89c8b8 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6059ad6b | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6059ad6b | comment |
Came up on the forums of xkcd, so it's probably legit to quote here — a poster who as a kid read a photo labeled "Lick Observatory Photograph" as an imperative. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6059ad6b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6059ad6b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| xkcd (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_6059ad6b | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_60c9c70 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_60c9c70 | comment |
Bunnicula: In Howliday Inn, the animals in the kennel are being disappeared one-by-one. Harold finds an unpunctuated message scratched into the bottom of his food bowl and tries to parse out whether it's fingering the murderers ("Help! Howls out now!") or the next victims ("Help Howls out, now!"). | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_60c9c70 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_60c9c70 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Bunnicula | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_60c9c70 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_60cb9f6f | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_60cb9f6f | comment |
The panelists of the BBC science show The Infinite Monkey Cage occasionally get derailed into discussions about the title of the show. If a cage is infinite, how is it a cage? Or is it a finite cage somehow containing an infinite number of monkeys? Or is it just one single, infinitely huge monkey, and if so, how could there even be a cage...? | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_60cb9f6f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_60cb9f6f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Infinite Monkey Cage (Radio) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_60cb9f6f | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_62b15a7d | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_62b15a7d | comment |
A different episode had Arin telling a story about how his copy of Wave Race 64 'was stolen'. When Danny expresses sympathy that someone had stolen Arin's game, Arin clarifies that he was the one who had stolen the Wave Race from someone else. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_62b15a7d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_62b15a7d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Wave Race (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_62b15a7d | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_660a8ba0 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_660a8ba0 | comment |
In Unseen Academicals an urchin asks Ridcully "'Ow do I know I can trust you?" and Ridcully replies "The workings of the mind are a mystery to me too, but I'm glad that is your belief." | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_660a8ba0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_660a8ba0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Unseen Academicals | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_660a8ba0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_67347399 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_67347399 | comment |
In Kakos Industries, Corin learns that he is entitled to attend the ultra-board meeting. He's unsure if this is an ultra-meeting of the regular board, or a meeting of a hitherto-unknown ultra-board. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_67347399 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_67347399 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Kakos Industries (Podcast) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_67347399 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_67cdde7d | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_67cdde7d | comment |
One April edition of Dragon had various useless magical items including the Invisible Ring. When you put it on, it turned invisible. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_67cdde7d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_67cdde7d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dragon (Magazine) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_67cdde7d | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_691be369 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_691be369 | comment |
The X-Files: In "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose", a supposed psychic claims that he'll die in bed with Scully. He ends up dying in a hospital bed, with Scully in the same room. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_691be369 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_691be369 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The X-Files | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_691be369 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6a34668 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6a34668 | comment |
The title character of Amelia Bedelia will interpret all syntax incorrectly if it's even slightly ambiguous, no matter how nonsensical the interpretation is (e.g. 'draw the curtains' — she draws a picture of the curtains instead of closing them, and for 'dress the chicken' she puts clothes on it). Good thing she makes great apple pie. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6a34668 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6a34668 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Amelia Bedelia | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_6a34668 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6ab76f31 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6ab76f31 | comment |
In My Cousin Vinny, Billy Gambini and his friend are arrested and offer to cooperate, not realizing that they're trying to confess to shoplifting, and they've actually been arrested for murder. When the sheriff finally asks directly when he shot the clerk, Billy asks "I shot the clerk?" in an attempt to clarify, but the police interpret it as an admission of guilt ("I shot the clerk!"). note It should be mentioned that this kind of situation is one of the reasons why, in America, if you get arrested, it is best not to answer any questions the police ask you without an attorney present.. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6ab76f31 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6ab76f31 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| My Cousin Vinny | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_6ab76f31 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6ac55ec7 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6ac55ec7 | comment |
The Dungeons & Dragons cleric power Turn Undead. "Turn" in this case means "drive off", as it makes undead flee or possibly even destroys them outright. However, it can also be interpreted as meaning it turns the cleric undead, although if that were the case it would presumably only be usable by evil clerics. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6ac55ec7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6ac55ec7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dungeons & Dragons (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_6ac55ec7 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6bc0f10a | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6bc0f10a | comment |
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) has this exchange. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6bc0f10a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6bc0f10a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_6bc0f10a | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6ccb82e2 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6ccb82e2 | comment |
There is a famous quote from Henry IV, Part 1 that goes: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6ccb82e2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_6ccb82e2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Henry IV, Part 1 (Theatre) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_6ccb82e2 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_727850de | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_727850de | comment |
Smokey and the Bandit: Frog and the Bandit are talking about Frog's legs as she is changing out of her wedding dress when Frog mentions that she is a professional. The Bandit replies that she shouldn't be wearing white, at which Frog glares at him and replies that she's a dancer, though he may just be teasing her for her lack of context. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_727850de | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_727850de | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Smokey and the Bandit | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_727850de | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_72e68fc6 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_72e68fc6 | comment |
In the DLC case of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice, Phoenix tells Maya that Larry got dumped by his imaginary bride, meaning only Larry thought she was his bride. Maya takes it to mean that Larry somehow got rejected by a figment of his imagination. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_72e68fc6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_72e68fc6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice (Visual Novel) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_72e68fc6 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_740815bb | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_740815bb | comment |
In Interesting Times, an oracle is asked to predict the outcome of the climactic battle, but doesn't know what answer to give Lord Hong. So he says with confidence that 'The enemy will be defeated' and then leaves before he is asked whose enemy (it helps that the question that is asked is "Are you sure?", which also lets him leave, apparently in a huff over being doubted.) | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_740815bb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_740815bb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Interesting Times | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_740815bb | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_74603f32 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_74603f32 | comment |
In episode 9 of Arcane this is played for gut-wrenching horror during the "family banquet" scene when Jinx produces a covered platter just large enough to contain, say, a human head and places it in front of Vi while mentioning that she'd "paid your girlfriend a visit". When Vi fearfully asks Jinx what she did to Caitlyn, Jinx says "I made her a snack." Fortunately Jinx was just Trolling Vi and the platter only contains a single cupcake (topped with the stolen hexcrystal gem). | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_74603f32 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_74603f32 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Arcane | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_74603f32 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7460586f | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7460586f | comment |
Archer: In Season 4, ISIS is in charge of security at a high-end restaurant. This also requires the operatives to be undercover, where they are berated by the chef. In A Going Concern, Archer is conspiring with Dr. Krieger to implant a mind control chip into Len Trexler, to force him to fall out of love with his mother in order to prevent her from selling ISIS to Len. Krieger has tested the concept by putting the chip in a rabbit's brain, and demonstrates his success to Archer by making the rabbit tap its foot: In "Legs", Archer is terrified of Krieger giving Ray bionic legs calling the operation "building a gay Terminator". Cyril is confused by what Archer meant. |
|
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7460586f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7460586f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Archer | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_7460586f | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_74fb542e | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_74fb542e | comment |
That Mitchell and Webb Look: In one of the event sketches, the announcer introduces the contestants as "Peter, who you may remember; and Sheila, who you're also permitted to remember." | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_74fb542e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_74fb542e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| That Mitchell and Webb Look | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_74fb542e | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_75149ccd | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_75149ccd | comment |
In X-Wing Series: Rogue Squadron, Corran Horn is flying with a randomized flight program while broadcasting a beacon that allows a set of proton torpedoes to follow him toward a target (It Makes Sense in Context). Most of the torpedoes hit the target, but one set that was fired late didn't, and continued to follow him. Horn, struggling to evade the torpedoes with the randomized flight program, tells his astromech Whistler to "cut it out". Corran meant the flight program; Whistler instead opted to "cut out" the beacon. It worked out, though Corran got a bit of a scare. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_75149ccd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_75149ccd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| X-Wing Series | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_75149ccd | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7531167c | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7531167c | comment |
A big clue to the mystery of While My Pretty One Sleeps is hidden in plain sight in Ethel's fashion article thanks to this trope, though it's not until the climax that a character (and likely the reader) picks up on it. In the section of Ethel's fashion article covering Anthony della Salva, she finishes it with the line "The creator of the Pacific Reef look deserves all the honours the fashion industry can bestow." Jack later discovers from Ethel's early draft that she intentionally rewrote this sentence to remove mention of della Salva and leave it ambiguous. This is because she'd already started to figure out that Sal didn't create the Pacific Reef look, but still needed more evidence, so she simply reworded the sentence so it could be interpreted as either 'Sal created it' or 'someone else did'. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7531167c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7531167c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| While My Pretty One Sleeps | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_7531167c | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_75bd5686 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_75bd5686 | comment |
Shining Time Station: In "Mr. Conductor's Movie", when everyone tries to show off for a visiting movie director, Mr. Conductor films the ensuing chaos and turns it into a movie. Stacy asks him what his title is, and he responds "Producer/Director". | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_75bd5686 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_75bd5686 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Shining Time Station | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_75bd5686 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_760ce135 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_760ce135 | comment |
In Blindsight by Peter Watts, a linguist intentionally uses extremely ambiguous sentences to determine whether she's talking to an actual person on the alien ship or an extremely sophisticated syntax engine. She deliberately gives answers which could be interpreted in several different ways, but after receiving only the most obvious, not actually related thematically, follow-up questions she concludes that they're dealing with a Chinese room. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_760ce135 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_760ce135 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Blindsight | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_760ce135 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_761d501f | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_761d501f | comment |
This exchange from Oscar (the French movie) between husband and wife: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_761d501f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_761d501f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Oscar (1967) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_761d501f | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_76e7de99 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_76e7de99 | comment |
Forgotten Realms has an in-universe example with punctuation: one of the many, many prophecies floating around there either (in the standard translation) says that (the) dead and dragons will rule the world or (in Sammaster's translation) says dead dragons will rule the world, depending on when a sentence starts. Note that while Sammaster's translation is rejected by the modern scholarship (in no small part likely because Sammaster ended up going completely crazy and tried to fulfill the prophecy), it is consistently indicated to be a mistake you could easily make. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_76e7de99 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_76e7de99 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Forgotten Realms (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_76e7de99 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_77a1d66e | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_77a1d66e | comment |
Holmes on the Range: The villain of "The Crack in The Lens'' is revealed when Old Red takes notice of some missing photographs. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_77a1d66e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_77a1d66e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Holmes on the Range | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_77a1d66e | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_77e22425 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_77e22425 | comment |
When Brain bursts in during the climax of the Pinky and the Brain episode "Snowball" and Snowball asks what he wants, Brain gestures to Pinky as he answers "My friend... and my world!" To many fans, it sounds less like "I'm here to take back my friend and also to take the world you conquered" and more like "I'm here to take back the mouse who's both my friend and my world." | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_77e22425 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_77e22425 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Pinky and the Brain | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_77e22425 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_77ff1111 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_77ff1111 | comment |
Cinderella: When Lady Tremaine is trying to wake her daughters and get them ready to try on the glass slipper. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_77ff1111 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_77ff1111 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Cinderella | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_77ff1111 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_78269e6c | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_78269e6c | comment |
Birds of a Feather: Occurs when the girls are discussing how to get help to escape a locked parking garage in "Sunday": | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_78269e6c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_78269e6c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Birds of a Feather | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_78269e6c | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7899c84f | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7899c84f | comment |
Adrian Mole frequently corrects his own ambiguous syntax, in his diaries. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7899c84f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7899c84f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Adrian Mole | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_7899c84f | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_78a7f8ff | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_78a7f8ff | comment |
Open All Hours: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_78a7f8ff | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_78a7f8ff | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Open All Hours | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_78a7f8ff | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_78afbcd8 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_78afbcd8 | comment |
In the setting for the game Perihelion, the word "perihelion" can mean "the center of Perihelion Imperial space", the planet called "Perihelion", the solar-centrist culture the Imperium inherited from the Ancients...or "solar-centric", its real-world meaning. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_78afbcd8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_78afbcd8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Perihelion (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_78afbcd8 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_795b35b6 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_795b35b6 | comment |
In the GrailQuest game book The Gateway of Doom, you enter a room containing "a man eating plant". The next line informs you that the plant he's eating is a carrot. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_795b35b6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_795b35b6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| GrailQuest | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_795b35b6 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7ae9d7fe | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7ae9d7fe | comment |
Let Him Have It: Derek Bentley yells "Let him have it" when he and a friend are confronted by police while breaking into a warehouse. His friend then shoots one of the officers. The intention is later argued in court, with defense saying he was urging his friend to surrender the gun, and prosecution arguing he was encouraging his friend to commit murder. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7ae9d7fe | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7ae9d7fe | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Let Him Have It | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_7ae9d7fe | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7b5f914a | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7b5f914a | comment |
In Dumb and Dumber, when Floyd and Harry arrive in Aspen and attend a benefit for the endangered Snow Owl to meet Mary. Harry approaches Mary and bluntly says: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7b5f914a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7b5f914a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dumb and Dumber | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_7b5f914a | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7bf6a74c | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7bf6a74c | comment |
In one episode of The Beverly Hillbillies, when Lethal Chef Elly May enters a cake-baking contest, she mentions that she needs the broom to sweep up because when put her cake down on a table, it broke to pieces. When Jed and Granny express this means she's out of the contest, Elly May clarifies that it was the table that broke. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7bf6a74c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7bf6a74c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Beverly Hillbillies | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_7bf6a74c | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7bfecbd3 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7bfecbd3 | comment |
In A Bridge Too Far, a German officer calls on the British soldiers to surrender. The British officer who replies takes advantage of the inexact wording used by the German and acts as though the Germans are offering to surrender.note Fun fact: This actually happened. And Colonel Frost, who was a consultant on the movie, had to fight with the scriptwriters to make sure they gave credit to the man who actually said the line, because initially they gave it to him instead. However Frost feared that if they did so, his old army friends would think he was trying to steal credit for the witticism to make himself look good and turn their backs on him in response. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7bfecbd3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7bfecbd3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| A Bridge Too Far | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_7bfecbd3 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7c038c18 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7c038c18 | comment |
In one episode of Phineas and Ferb, Dr. Doofenshmirtz invents a miracle product to reverse baldness. He calls it “Get Back Hair.� The chorus shifts the emphasis of the name, suggesting that the product will cause the user to get hair on their back. Doofenshmirtz is mystified as to why it isn’t selling well. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7c038c18 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7c038c18 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Phineas and Ferb | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_7c038c18 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7cf5a07 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7cf5a07 | comment |
In The Flash (2014), speedster Big Bad Savitar taunts Barry Allen saying "I am the future, Flash." When Savitar is revealed to be a future Flash, he echoes the line back to Barry. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7cf5a07 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7cf5a07 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Flash (2014) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_7cf5a07 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7d122312 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7d122312 | comment |
In The Flintstones, while quarterbacking the football team at Princestone U., Fred asks one of the players if he can kick a field goal. He explains: In another episode, Fred and Barney are approached by a female spy seeking assistance: |
|
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7d122312 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7d122312 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Flintstones | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_7d122312 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7dbde88b | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7dbde88b | comment |
Drake & Josh just before leaving for a wedding: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7dbde88b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7dbde88b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Drake & Josh | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_7dbde88b | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7fbd159a | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7fbd159a | comment |
In one episode of ThunderCats (1985), Cheetara gets a (faked) call for help at the "giant beehive". It's not until after the line is spoken that we learn it's a hive of giant bees (as in, big enough to ride). | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7fbd159a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7fbd159a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| ThunderCats (1985) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_7fbd159a | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7fc78282 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7fc78282 | comment |
There's the famous one from The Lord of the Rings. The inscription on the door to Moria reads, "Speak 'friend,' and enter" in Elvish. What is required is to say the Elvish word for friend (the gates were to a Dwarf-kingdom, but were designed by an Elf from the neighboring Elf-kingdom). Gandalf misinterprets this as saying "Speak, friend, and enter," and assumes the door is commanding him to speak a required secret password that he doesn't know. He finally gets through when he realizes his mistake. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7fc78282 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_7fc78282 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Lord of the Rings | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_7fc78282 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_813b324e | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_813b324e | comment |
In asdfmovie 10: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_813b324e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_813b324e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| asdfmovie (Web Animation) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_813b324e | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8313caf2 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8313caf2 | comment |
In Universal Soldier, when Andrew Scott (Dolph Lungren) thinks he's about to finish off Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme), he says "say goodnight, asshole". Deveraux then surreptitiously injects himself with Phlebotinum and says "goodnight, asshole" and kicks Scott's ass. Probably a Shout-Out to the apocryphal George Burns and Gracie Allen "Say goodnight, Gracie" bit. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8313caf2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8313caf2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Universal Soldier (1992) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_8313caf2 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_83d41855 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_83d41855 | comment |
In Gargoyles, Puck uses the Exact Words version when Demona temporary forces him to grant her wishes. Specifically, this line, when Demona wants him to "get rid" of Elisa but he instead turns her into a gargoyle: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_83d41855 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_83d41855 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Gargoyles | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_83d41855 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_84e19652 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_84e19652 | comment |
In Between My Brother and Me: Mors Omnibus, Edo Phoenix asks Yvonne Maxa — who earlier in the story massacred a lot of Academia students — to "come with us right now and bring Sora with you" (as in, return to Academia to be held on trial for her crimes and return Sora — who she brainwashed to become her puppet, It's a Long Story). Yvonne, who is a Deadpan Snarker, is quick to reword it. Three chapters later, during which time Zarc has arrived and is displaying how his "sons" Yuya and Yuto to Yusho, and Mieru has taken three knives to the stomach for Yusho, Serenity tells Yvonne that she's missed "a lot". |
|
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_84e19652 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_84e19652 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Between My Brother and Me: Mors Omnibus (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_84e19652 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_85555ea3 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_85555ea3 | comment |
Day of the Tentacle: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_85555ea3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_85555ea3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Day of the Tentacle (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_85555ea3 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8567321f | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8567321f | comment |
Moon Base Alpha: During the first half of the second book, people ignore Dash's sister Violet's repeated suggestion about where Nina disappeared to. When they finally tell her why they think she's wrong, it becomes clear that Violet is right. Specifically, [she said maybe Nina left without taking her spacesuit (which is still in its locker). Rather than suggesting Nina is able to breathe in the vacuum, Violet means maybe she didn't take her suit, but borrowed someone else's. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8567321f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8567321f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Moon Base Alpha | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_8567321f | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_86c3beca | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_86c3beca | comment |
In the Girl Genius side-story "Ivo Sharktooth: Private Jaegar", Sharktooth tells his Friend in the Black Market "Hy iz here for a client". The black marketeer replies that they don't sell people, so he'll have to find one the old-fashioned way. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_86c3beca | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_86c3beca | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Girl Genius (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_86c3beca | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_86f433bb | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_86f433bb | comment |
From Nursery Crime: The Fourth Bear: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_86f433bb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_86f433bb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Nursery Crime | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_86f433bb | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_892ae6b9 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_892ae6b9 | comment |
In V The Vampire Vigilante, V meets Athena, a vampire hunter aiming to kill her, but she thought she was a vampire who's a hunter. V later lampshades it by stating that she could call herself Athena The Hunter of Vampires instead. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_892ae6b9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_892ae6b9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| V The Vampire Vigilante (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_892ae6b9 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_893bf98d | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_893bf98d | comment |
In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Willy Wonka at one point introduces a new creation of his: "Square sweets that look round."note In the American version, square candies that look round. Once he and the others enter the room, a stack of square-shaped sweets with little faces on them turn to face them. In other words, they looked 'round. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_893bf98d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_893bf98d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_893bf98d | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_89bf8ce | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_89bf8ce | comment |
In 30 Rock, a new actor is hired and Jenna enlists Tracy to help get rid of him. She tells him "He's evil, Tracy!" making Tracy say "He's Evil Tracy?!" before he realizes that she meant "He's evil, comma, Tracy." | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_89bf8ce | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_89bf8ce | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| 30 Rock | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_89bf8ce | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8a08048e | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8a08048e | comment |
Taskmaster: Many of the tasks are deliberately written in a way that allows for interpretation on the part of the contestants, allowing for potential Loophole Abuse. For example, one task called for the contestants to "Place these three exercise balls on the yoga mat on the top of that hill." While most of them did so by carrying the balls up the hill, one interpreted it as "Place these three excercise balls on the yoga mat that is currently on the top of that hill", and proceeded to bring the yoga mat to the balls. The show actually consulted a grammarian, who confirmed this interpretation as valid. | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8a08048e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8a08048e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Taskmaster | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_8a08048e | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8a6bf3f3 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8a6bf3f3 | comment |
"Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century": Daffy Duck (Duck Dodgers) uses a Disintegrating Pistol against Marvin the Martian. Unfortunately, Daffy's pistol crumbles into powder when he pulls the trigger. He also dons a "Disintegration-Proof Vest" — which remains intact while utterly failing to protect him from being disintegrated. |
|
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8a6bf3f3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8a6bf3f3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_8a6bf3f3 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8b957d5d | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8b957d5d | comment |
In Life, the Universe and Everything, Ford explains a random sofa appearing in a field as "eddies in the time-space continuum". Arthur replies "And this is his sofa, is it?" (This also happens in the radio version, except Arthur's line there is "Well, tell him to come and collect his sofa, then!") | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8b957d5d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8b957d5d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Life, the Universe and Everything | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_8b957d5d | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8c4b4de | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8c4b4de | comment |
Cragne Manor: One of the magazines in the real estate office is called "Yurt Fancier". The protagonist knows it means "someone who likes yurts", but also wonders if it's implying that the yurt is fancier than she is. The narration says that it is: "it's made of cruelty-free faux beluga whaleskin and you, last time you checked, are not." | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8c4b4de | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8c4b4de | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Cragne Manor (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_8c4b4de | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8d81f086 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8d81f086 | comment |
Monk: In "Mr. Monk on Wheels", Monk has been shot in the leg, and Captain Stottlemeyer and Lieutenant Disher are interrogating the suspected shooter's cousin: In "Mr. Monk Makes the Playoffs", Bob Costas asks Stottlemeyer if Monk's told him about the way they met. Stottlemeyer says all he knows is that involved something about a demented cat salesman. Costas then clarifies: the cat salesman was not demented, he sold demented cats, like a calico kitten that was psychotic, and other cats that had multiple personalities. |
|
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8d81f086 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8d81f086 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Monk | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_8d81f086 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8d98042f | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8d98042f | comment |
Game Grumps: An episode of Game Grumps vs. has them playing Family Feud, where the category was "Real or fake, name a famous blonde." Danny read it as "real blondes or fake blondes", completely missing the possibility of fictional characters. A different episode had Arin telling a story about how his copy of Wave Race 64 'was stolen'. When Danny expresses sympathy that someone had stolen Arin's game, Arin clarifies that he was the one who had stolen the Wave Race from someone else. |
|
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8d98042f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8d98042f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Game Grumps (Web Video) | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_8d98042f | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8dd4a32c | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8dd4a32c | comment |
A 1950s Popeye cartoon taking place in a gym had Olive (who ate his spinach and cleaned the floor with Bluto) holding Popeye up in the air and repeatedly kissing him: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8dd4a32c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8dd4a32c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Popeye | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_8dd4a32c | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8e193f0b | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8e193f0b | comment |
Boy Meets World: | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8e193f0b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8e193f0b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Boy Meets World | hasFeature |
Ambiguous Syntax / int_8e193f0b | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8e2281e0 | type |
Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8e2281e0 | comment |
Station to Station by David Bowie, which has a title that can be interpreted as a station named Station To or a station named To Station. (Actually, neither; it refers to a form of telephone calls involving operator assistance that has become obsolete.) | |
| Ambiguous Syntax / int_8e2281e0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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Discussed on ChalkZone whenever Rudy Tabootie talks to his friend Snap about his idea for a comic about Vampire Cannibals, most notably with Snap asking whether they're vampires that eat other vampires or if they're cannibals that happen to be vampires. This eventually proves to cause serious problems for Rudy in the episode "Vampire Cannibals of New York" when Gore, the Vampire Cannibal King, decides to eat Rudy and responds to his claims that Vampire Cannibals only eat other vampires by pointing out that it was never made clear. | |
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In Doctor Strange, Kaecilius's first interaction with Doctor Strange. Kaecilius doesn't understand that Strange is a doctor and "Strange" is his actual name. | |
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On an episode of Carnivà le, Stumpy did a spiel promising to show "the fearsome Man Eating Chicken." When the curtain was pulled aside, another carny was sitting at a table, eating... well, you can guess. Was the carny in question fearsome? |
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Kim Possible: In "Emotion Sickness", an emotion-control device accidentally causes Kim to fall madly in love with Ron. Unaware of the reason for her sudden attraction to him and not sure how he feels about it, Ron at one point says, "It's not like I haven't thought about this, I mean, who hasn't?" On a meta level, it's a Fandom Nod to their shippers, but in-universe, it's impossible to tell if Ron meant, "It's not like I haven't thought about us dating, I mean, who hasn't thought about me dating Kim?" or "It's not like I haven't thought about dating Kim, I mean, who hasn't thought about dating Kim?" | |
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Animorphs: Ax uses this as an excuse when he morphs human (which causes him to turn into a Sense Freak where food is concerned) to get some cinnamon buns, and after accidentally causing a disturbance, the Cinnabon manager takes pity on him, shows him some trays of buns, and allows Ax to "have one". His narration shows his thought process: At the end of The Departure, Cassie explains her time missing in the woods to her parents by saying she'd survived for three days eating mushrooms. The news reports it with the headline, "Girl Survives Ordeal Eating Mushrooms." |
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The Wizard of Oz: Uncle Henry does this to Ms. Gulch likely just to mess with her. The Wicked Witch skywrites "SURRENDER DOROTHY" above the Emerald City. Given that skywriting makes punctuation difficult, does she mean "Surrender, Dorothy" meaning she wants Dorothy to surrender, or "Surrender Dorothy" meaning she wants the people of the Emerald City to surrender Dorothy to her? |
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Kamen Rider Zi-O: Exploited. White Woz (the antagonistic Alternate Universe version of the more heroic "Black" Woz) possesses a notebook that lets him alter reality just by writing down what he wants to happen. In one arc, White Woz's Kamen Rider powers are stolen and he attempts to retrieve them by writing "The powers return to Woz". However, at that moment Black Woz leaps out and intercepts the Transformation Trinket, observing that he really should have specified which Woz would get the powers. | |
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Dilbert and his colleagues gets good mileage out of these as a way of giving Stealth Insults to their clueless boss. For example, after the boss spouts off his usual management gibberish, he says "I don't think I can be any clearer". Dilbert agrees with him. | |
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In the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode "Teen-Age Strangler", there is some discussion as to the meaning of the title of the movie: there is a strangler, but it isn't a teenager, and not all of the victims of the strangler are teen-age girls, so why is it titled Teen-Age Strangler? | |
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In a humorous Tom Strong story, Paul Saveen mentions once having a secret base in a "lost Eskimo mine." As he goes into detail it becomes clear that it wasn't a lost mine belonging to Eskimos, but rather a mine belonging to a lost Eskimo — it was under Death Valley. Poor guy was very lost. | |
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From an episode of Hilda: | |
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In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Hagrid purchases a "flesh-eating slug repellent". It's confirmed elsewhere in the series that it's the slug that's flesh-eating, not the repellent. | |
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Paul Merton likes to use this trope on Have I Got News for You. For example, when he was asked to complete the headline "(BLANK) flies off without warning", he suggested "Spider scares..." and "Clinton's...". Also: "Saddam Hussein was found in his underpants. Makes you wonder why they didn't look there in the first place." |
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In Top 10, after a gruesome teleporter accident, wherein his car materializes inside Kapela (a gigantic horse-like warrior taking part in a cosmic chess game), Mr Nebula is understandably upset about the death of his wife and very upset that Kapela is being so insufferably calm about it. They have this exchange: | |
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The Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Devil in the Dark" has the Horta, after a mind-meld with Spock, carve out on a rock (with its acid) the message NO KILL I. Kirk even points out the ambiguity: "What is that, a plea for us not to kill it, or a promise that it won't kill us?" | |
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In One Cool Friend, Elliot tells his father he's going to do research at the library about Magellan (the penguin, not the explorer). His father says in third grade, he got Captain Cook. The reader is made to think he's talking about a research project about James Cook, but since he owns a tortoise named Captain Cook, it's more likely he's telling his son he got the tortoise when he in third grade. | |
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Mock the Week: From a Scenes We'd Like To See round of 'Things you wouldn't hear on a survival show': One episode has a panelist mention a "huge pigeon problem" - then immediately points out he means a pigeon problem that's severe, not a problem with gigantic pigeons. Dara mocks him by imitating a monstrous-sized pigeon attacking people. |
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In The Elder Scrolls series, M'aiq the Liar is a recurring Easter Egg Legacy Character. M'aiq is a known a Fourth-Wall Observer (and Leaner and Breaker) who voices the opinions of the series' creators and developers, largely in the form of Take Thats, to both the audience (given the ES Unpleasable Fanbase) and isn't above taking some at Bethesda itself. His catchphrase is "M'aiq knows much, tells some." It's been noted that this could mean that either he only tells some of what he knows, or that he only tells what he knows to some people, and he appears to be doing it on purpose to be mysterious (which, given his role, makes sense). | |
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The Regular Show episode "Snow Tubing" gives us this example: | |
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Exandria Unlimited: Calamity: The last line of the finale's summation has two possible meanings, both of which are accurate. The actions of the Ring of Brass kicked off the 150-year long war known as the Calamity, but their actions also ensured that it would end eventually with a chance for the survivors to rebuild in the aftermath. | |
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In the 1941 film Tarzan's Secret Treasure (fifth in the MGM film series starring Johnny Weissmuller), after Jane describes what courtship is like back where she came from, Tarzan replies, "Too much talk. Tarzan way better." Does he mean "Tarzan's way is better" or "Tarzan is way better than other men"? Both are probably equally true, in Jane's opinion. | |
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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has a Shout-Out to Animal Crackers when Grandpa says, "I got up this morning and shot an elephant in my pyjamas. How he ever got into my pyjamas I shall never know." | |
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In the Little Audrey short "Tarts and Flowers", when Audrey is baking a cake and puts the ingredients in the bowl, the radio voice finishes by telling her "Now beat it." Thinking that he's shooing her away, she prepares to leave, before he clarifies that he meant to beat the batter. | |
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In the Curiosities Shoppe in Planescape: Torment, one of the items you could examine was a jar of baby oil. Doing so got this response from the proprietor: | |
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In the pilot of The West Wing, Leo asks Sam to give his daughter's fourth-grade class a tour in the West Wing. He is utterly unprepared and spends his time between making a fool out of himself and trying to figure out which of the girls is Leo's daughter, so he can properly suck up to her. The teacher loses her patience and drags him out of the room to chew him out, after which this happens: | |
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In his review for Independence Day on PS1, the AVGN contemplates getting a tattoo of "a goat holding up a baby snorting cocaine off its penis". However, he never makes it clear which one had the penis being snorted, nor whether the baby or the goat was doing the snorting. | |
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The Gamers: Hands of Fate: Invoked by the Show Within a Show, Ninja Dragon Riders. It is later clarified that both the dragons and the dragon riders are ninjas. | |
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The Truth has a few jokes about not only ambiguous headlines, but trying to compensate for them, such as "Patrician Attacks Clerk With Knife (he had the knife, not the clerk)". In the same book, Mr. Tulip uses a phrase (via his Verbal Tic swearing) that is misinterpreted due to this: | |
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While being interviewed on The Graham Norton Show, Keira Knightley spoke about how for A Dangerous Method she had to practice her "bad sex faces". Samuel L. Jackson, also being interviewed, joked whether she meant bad sex faces, or bad sex faces. | |
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There's a famous story about the playtesting of the first Magic: The Gathering cards after game creator Richard Garfield had this exchange: | |
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Two examples occurred in The Fairly OddParents! episode "Fairly Odd Pet", Sparky's introduction episode. First, Jorgen, while working in a magical pet store, says he needs to clean up some magic turtle poop...before clarifying the poop was magic, not the turtle. Then later, Timmy tries to show his dad the tricks Sparky can do by saying "Go fetch the paper, boy!". Unfortunately, Sparky ends up bringing back the paper boy. | |
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In the second game, one of Cave Johnson's pre-recorded lines is "Say 'goodbye', Caroline." | |
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Near the end of the Ravenloft adventure "When Black Roses Bloom", a flock of ravens begins croaking three words in sequence as the PCs confront the darklord Soth. As events progress, the words initially heard as "Lord Through Dark" (guiding the heroes to his location) are rendered as "Dark Lord Through" to mark the failure of his evil schemes. Finally, the birds' words resound one last time as "Through Dark Lord", indicating that an escape-portal out of the domain exists in the emblem on Soth's armored breastplate. | |
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Rocky and Bullwinkle: In one "Mr. Know-It-All", Bullwinkle tries to show how to open a jar of pickles. One of his attempts is to hold it to the floor and give Rocky a hammer while saying "When I nod my head, you hit it." Guess what happens. | |
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In the Teen Titans episode "Troq", Cyborg asks Starfire what the titular word means when Val-Yor calls her it. Starfire says, "It means nothing". Later, when Cyborg calls Starfire Troq, she gets very upset with him over it. Cyborg thought she said the word didn't mean anything, but Starfire clarifies it literally means "nothing", as in her race is worthless. | |
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Kaamelott: One episode has Séli explain the problems with hosting meetings with clan chieftains, citing their appetites, the drunkenness, the nonexistent manners... | |
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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Any time John Oliver adds a #HashtagForLaughs, he'll sometimes mention that the exact message of his hashtag might seem unclear. For example, in the example about guardianships, after a joke about foxes was accompanied by the hashtag "Not All Foxes" (#NOTALLFOXES), he sees that the hashtag could also be interpreted as "No Tall Foxes". | |
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Danger Mouse: At the end of the episode "Duckula Meets Frankenstoat", the mission is completed, so DM tells Penfold to call him a cab. Penfold is about to say "you're a cab" when DM abruptly says "Don't you dare!" At the beginning, the duo are on a skiing holiday: In "All Fall Down," Dudley Poyson leaves his lab for a meeting with Mac the Fork. He says "I'll call myself a cab right away. I'm a cab! I'm a cab!" In the final episode "Intergalactic 147", DM and Penfold encounter a trio of aliens that just paved away Londontown, with them saying they had recently painted Mars brown. |
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This is the entire point of the classic Saturday Night Live sketch "Robot Repair." A Saturday Night Live skit, wherein Ed Asner tells Julia Louis-Dreyfus first "You can never put too much water in a nuclear reactor," and ends with "You can never stare too long at a mushroom cloud." |
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An episode of Perfect Strangers has Larry and Balki trying to fix the plumbing in their apartment. | |
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A vintage short, "The Ducksters" has Daffy Duck as the host of a quiz show, "Brought to you by the Eagle Hand-Laundry. Are your eagle's hands dirty? We'll wash 'em clean!" | |
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During a Peanuts storyline where Marcie had Peppermint Patty believing that a butterfly that landed on her nose turned into an angel, Patty phoned Sally about it: | |
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Clue: It has several of these moments: Also |
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TV Tropes itself has a few, many of which are chronicled in "I Thought It Meant..." For example, a Serial-Killer Killer: A killer of serial killers, or a serial killer of killers? (Both, more often than not). An example rightly documented in TV Tropes: |
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In Shutter Island, Teddy Daniels, while searching an insane asylum for a dangerous man named Andrew Laeddis, is told by insane patient George Noyce "This is about you, and Laeddis. That's all it's ever been about". At least, that's what Teddy thinks he said. What he actually said was "This is about you. And Laeddis, that's all it's ever been about", secretly spoiling Teddy's true identity. | |
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Singin' in the Rain: When Don is mobbed by his fans, he shouts, "Cosmo, do something! Call me a cab!" Cosmo replies, "Okay, you're a cab!" | |
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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: An infamous one: In Life, the Universe and Everything, Ford explains a random sofa appearing in a field as "eddies in the time-space continuum". Arthur replies "And this is his sofa, is it?" (This also happens in the radio version, except Arthur's line there is "Well, tell him to come and collect his sofa, then!") Earlier in the same conversation, Arthur asks "What are those things people think you're mad if you talk to? Like George III?" and Ford suggests "Kings?" |
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In an episode of Modern Family, Mitch explained to Gloria that his daughter's "My Lil' Companion" doll had a backstory involving working with "blind dolphins and models". | |
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Fawlty Towers has one of the best gags in the series use this trope. | |
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In Fate/stay night and its adaptations, Illya refers to Shirou as "onii-chan". The intended ambiguity of this is Lost in Translation in the English dubs and translations (translated to "mister"), because in Japan, "onii-chan" is both used to refer to a stranger who is a young man and older brother figures (like your older brother, your older male cousin, etc.). It turns out to have a Double Meaning, because Illya is Shirou's long lost older adopted sister. | |
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Kappa Mikey had a pirate tell Gonard, "Feed my parrot." Gonard threw the parrot in the water. After it was eaten by a shark, the pirate complained, but Gonard said, "I did feed your parrot. I fed it to a shark." | |
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Judge John Deed: Played for Drama. When a boy resists handing over his mobile phone which two thieves are attempting to steal, one of them shouts "Give it to him, let him have it before we're nicked"; the other thief then stabs the boy. They are asked in court what "Give it to him, let him have it" meant. | |
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In The Incredibles, after learning that Bob is on Nomanisan Island, Helen flies there to find out what's going on with him. Violet asks why she's leaving: | |
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An interviewer once asked Dave Grohl if the Foo Fighters "fight foo, or fight for foo?" Dave verified that it's the latter. | |
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SpongeBob SquarePants: In "Big Pink Loser", Patrick tries his hand at managing the cash register at the Krusty Krab and repeatedly gets calls from people asking "Is this the Krusty Krab?" Patrick, thinking that they're calling him a crusty crab, responds each time with "no, this is Patrick," getting increasingly irate each time before SpongeBob points out that "the Krusty Krab" is the name of the restaurant. In "Dying for Pie", one of the items on Spongebob's list of things to do with Squidward is to show Squidward to everybody in town, then right after that is to show Squidward to everybody in town wearing a salmon suit. Inverted in "Krusty Towers", where Patrick said to Squidward "One Krabby Patty and one room. With cheese. Ooh, and can I also have cheese on the Krabby Patty?" |
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In El Goonish Shive, when Arthur decides to break the masquerade on television, but refuses to actually discuss it: | |
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Superstore: This causes confusion in the Season 3 premiere "Grand Re-Opening," when Jeff sends Glenn a memo reading, "Bring back the staff a week before the grand re-opening on the 28th." Glenn assumes the start date for the Cloud 9 re-opening process is on the 28th, but it turns out that the 28th is the actual re-opening date, so Glenn ends up a week behind. This leads to an argument between Dina and Glenn over whether the memo was clear enough. | |
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Star Trek Beyond: In his log, Captain Edison says "Of the crew, only three remain." While presumably this means Edison himself, Manas, and Kalara, it could also be interpreted as meaning three crew members besides Edison himself, in which case there might be a fourth member of the Swarm out there. | |
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Blackadder: In the first episode, Richard IV asks Prince Edmund, "Fight you with us on the morrow?" Blackadder hastily replies that he'll be fighting with the enemy. Cue awkward pause. In Blackadder Goes Forth, Bob Parkhurst disguises herself as a man because she "want[s] to see how a war is fought so badly." Edmund informs her that she has come to the right place, as the war is being fought very badly indeed. Blackadder also gives us "Say thank you, Baldrick." "Thank you Baldrick." From Blackadder II: In another episode, Percy mentions that Lady Caroline Fairfax is his girlfriend, to Blackadder's surprise. In "Potato," Edmund kvetches about Sir Walter Raleigh and his exploits and how he introduced potatoes to Ireland. He holds up said vegetable: In Blackadder the Third, Edmund tells Mr. Hardwood that "The Prince wants your daughter for his wife." An outraged Mr. Hardwood replies "Well, his wife can't have her!" Blackadder the Third also has an incredibly reactionary MP who declares that he "dined hugely off a servant": An unintentional example from Third: Due to Vincent Hanna's hushed delivery, it's not entirely clear if Brigadier-General Horace Bolsom represents the Keep Royalty White, Rat-Catching and Safe Sewage Residents' Party or the Keep Royalty, White Rat-Catching, etc. Do they believe in keeping royalty white and catching rats, or in keeping royalty and catching white rats? (Most transcripts and online resources go for the former.) |
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The Railway Children: When the children want to get the attention of the old gentleman who travels on the train every day, they make a sign beside the railway saying "Look out at the station". Did they mean "Beware at the station"? Fortunately, the sign has the right effect, and people do look out of the train, including the old gentleman. | |
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Doctor Who: "The Two Doctors" uses the oldey-but-a-goodey To Serve Man version with an alien going into a restaurant and asking, "Do you serve humans here?" In "The Name of the Doctor", the Doctor has a secret that he will take to his grave. It is discovered. Not the secret, the grave. Somewhat the case in the 50th Anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor". The three doctors attempt to save their home planet of Gallifrey from destruction during the Time War, but are left clueless about whether they succeeded or not. All they have is a painting of the planet, which apparently has two titles: "No More" and "Gallifrey Falls". It's only after talking to the museum's curator (implied to be a future version of the Doctor, given his resemblance to the fourth incarnation) that Eleven finds out the painting has one full title: "Gallifrey falls no more". "Heaven Sent" ends with the Doctor finally revealing the identity of the Hybrid, a being who has been discussed all season: "The Hybrid...is me!" It's left unclear (and never properly revealed) whether he was referring to himself ("The Hybrid is me") or to Ashildr, who had been calling herself simply "Me" for centuries ("The Hybrid is Me"); each of the two proposes the other is the Hybrid in the following episode, and ultimately the question is handwaved away (it turns out the Doctor never knew to begin with, and was lying to get the Time Lords to resurrect Clara). In the opening scene of "The Return of Doctor Mysterio", the Doctor hands Grant (a young boy at the time) an energy gem and a glass of water and tells him "Take this." He means "hold onto this for a moment"; Grant (who assumes that the fellow who introduced himself as "the Doctor" is a medical doctor) interprets it as an instruction to "take" (swallow) the "pill". |
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Near the end of The Thin Man, Nick and Nora throw a dinner party for all the suspects in order to catch the murderer. Since nearly every one of their guests is a bit bonkers, Nora catches herself when asking one of the waiters to bring out the next course of hors d'oeuvres. | |
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The song "Friends for Dinner" from The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island is about this, Chomper wants to invite his friends to have dinner with him, but they (except Littlefoot) think he's having them FOR dinner, as in eating them (since he's a Sharptooth). | |
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In Central Park, Season 1 "Rival Busker", when Paige is trying to get past the Russian guards to get into Bitsy's secret ballroom: | |
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In The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past the Mad Batter in the well outside the blacksmiths' house Curses you to punish you for waking him so that "your magic power will drop by one-half". However instead of halving the size of your magic meter as he presumably intended he instead halves your magic power consumption, effectively doubling the size of your magic meter. | |
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The Soup discussed this regarding a reality show called What!? I'm a Stripper. Joel can't figure out what inflection to use when saying the show's title. It could be read with confusion ("What?? I'm a stripper??") or belligerence (WHAT!? I'M A STRIPPER!). | |
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Monty Python's Flying Circus: "Next week, part 2: Biggles Flies Undone."note Or is that "Biggles' Fly's Undone"? "In 1970 the British Empire lay in ruins, foreign nationals frequented the streets — many of them Hungarians (not the streets-the foreign nationals)." "Don't anybody leave the room, my name is Constable Look-out!" "Walk this way." "There's a man at the door with a mustache." |
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In the opening of one episode of ALF, when ALF attempts to raid the fridge for a midnight snack of leftover pork, he finds a note on it from the Tanners saying 'ALF, don't eat this'. ALF wonders why they think he would eat a piece of paper before tossing it aside. | |
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Criminal Minds: When the team is investigating a bank robber/killer who makes his victims undress, Elle reads a headline that calls him the "Stripping Bandit" and points out that it sounds like he's the one doing the stripping. | |
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The hosts of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In's perennial signoff lines: A zinger from Judy Carne: |
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In the fifth Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, Uncle Gary is dating a woman who says that she has "thirty thousand in the bank, maybe forty" and Uncle Gary says that he has 45. It turns out he only has 45 dollars. | |
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From The Amazing Race 29 | |
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Since his Basic isn't perfect, the title character of Thrawn does this at the beginning, and also as a Mythology Gag. In the beginning of Heir to the Empire , Thrawn explains how you can learn a lot about a culture by studying their art. Here, to his translator: | |
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QI: Stephen Fry is asked by a panellist "Where do you stand on Marmite?" His response: "I never stand on Marmite. It's a stupid thing to do. But I quite like the taste of it, I have to admit." From the Season F Christmas episode, "Fire and Freezing": |
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In the Cabin Pressure episode "Ipswich", Arthur says he went on a course about understanding people in Ipswich. Douglas snarkily replies that if he ever wants to understand people in Ipswich, Arthur will be the first person he calls. | |
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Constance Verity Saves the World opens with an example that would make Groucho Marx blush: | |
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South Park: The episode "Chickenlover" has this exchange. In "A Song of Ass and Fire", Cartman gets annoyed when he has to explain that his title of "Wizard King" means that he's a king who's also a wizard, not that he's the king of wizards. |
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The Portal series: No one's entirely sure whether GLaDOS is a Genetic Lifeform who is also a Disk Operating System, or whether she is a System for Operating Genetic Lifeforms and Disks. (Judging by the second game, it's both). In the second game, one of Cave Johnson's pre-recorded lines is "Say 'goodbye', Caroline." |
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Coby's Choice: When Garp first informs Sengoku he is now a great-grandfather, Sengoku hopes he is talking about the quality of his child-raising skills. Garp quickly dashes those hopes when he clarifies that his grandkid now has a child of his own. | |
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In Soul Music, Ridcully, searching for the rest of the senior wizards, tells Ponder Stibbons "I've lost my faculty." Ponder replies "For what, Archchancellor?" | |
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Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child "The Emperor's New Clothes" | |
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Flubber: One of the goons takes a long time to understand that his boss' various euphemisms for shooting someone (with a water pistol, thankfully) were actually meant literally. | |
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The "Purple People Eater" thing discussed under Music gets consideration in Mutant Football League, where the Minnesota Vikings parody team is known as the Purple Mutant Eaters. The players are purple-skinned cannibals, and the intro to the Mutant Eaters' Dynasty Mode campaign leaves no room for confusion: "We're the purple ones, and we don't only eat purple mutants." | |
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From Mary Poppins: "I met a man with a wooden leg named Smith." "What was the name of his other leg?" | |
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Early on in Home Alone after Kevin gets in trouble for retaliating against Buzz's taunting, his mother forces him to go to bed early: | |
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"Let the Sun Come In" by The Pretenders has the lines "They even say that we must die/I don't believe that, that's a lie". The rest of the song ("To live forever, that's the plan") makes it pretty clear that the comma should be there, but the rhythm of the tune makes it sound like "I don't believe that that's a lie", which is the exact opposite. | |
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Homestar Runner: Strong Sad uses it in his character video, but then clarifies that he meant both meanings. | |
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The Prisoner (1967) uses Number 2's odd, stilted syntax to hide something that, were it written down properly punctuated, would give away the series' Twist Ending. | |
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In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Band Candy", someone had painted "KISS rocks!" on the students' lockers. Willow is briefly confused over why anyone would kiss rocks. | |
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In Tomorrow Stories 64 Page Special #1, it's a Running Gag that whenever the First First American outlines his idea for fighting crime in a costume with a funny name, someone will ask him why the costume has a funny name. In the same comic, Splash Brannigan narrates that a man "slowly turned and spoke" to him, at which point the man turns and speaks slowly. | |
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Henry Stickmin Series: In Infiltrating the Airship, one of the options in the game has Charles helping Henry out with a gravity bubble, whose controls are only two buttons labeled "Up" and "Down". Charles accidentally crushes Henry to death with the bubble because he can't figure out if "Up" increases gravity or lifts you up in the air. Lampshaded by the FAIL screen that appears afterward. In the "Free Man" route of Completing the Mission, one of the options for escaping from a prison cell on the Toppat Clan's orbital station is a "melt ray", which, like the Duck Dodgers example below, melts out of Henry's hands. |
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The fan-made game Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden owes its entire existence to this trope. The creators were browsing Michael Jordan's Wikipedia page one day, and the section regarding Space Jam caught their attention, as there was debate over the film's canonicity. One would assume it meant the Looney Tunes canon, but the phrasing could make it seem like it referred to the canon of Michael Jordan's actual life. They then decided to make a game off of this premise, with the opening text "WARNING: The game you are about to play is canon." | |
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In the book Skin Game Michael is a little vague with his pronoun usage. | |
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Deliberately misinterpreting ambiguous syntax is (ab)used to get the protagonists out of a sticky situation in Looney Tunes: Back in Action — while chasing the MacGuffin, it falls into a deck of playing cards being dealt by Foghorn Leghorn, who surreptitiously delivers it to DJ by pretending to play Blackjack with him while ignoring Yosemite Sam, who is impatiently also demanding "Hit me!" over and over again; once the delivery is successful, Foghorn finally fulfills Yosemite's request... literally, of course, after a brief Aside Glance. | |
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An old Three Stooges bit involves Curly getting knocked out and Moe trying to revive him. | |
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Hello Cheeky: This: Also: |
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Some of Thomas Sanders sketches are based on these. Among others, when he rides past a yard sale, he asks the owners how much the yard would cost him. | |
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Is It Legal?: The first episode has Stella inform the Naïve Newcomer Colin of Dick's current whereabouts by informing him that "Dick's out". This makes Colin believe that she wants his dick in a weird initiation ceremony until Stella tells him otherwise. | |
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During the Coliseum fundraising stream hosted by The Runaway Guys, AttackingTucans was asked whether his name refers to tucans being attacked or doing the attacking. He more-or-less replied 'Yes'. | |
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In John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme Series 5 Episode 2, the Storyteller promises "a tale of espionage, treason, and people in suits looking out of windows with rain running down them. (The windows I mean, not the suits)". Later in the story, he describes his boss "looking out of the window, with rain running down his suit. I was wrong before." | |
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The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: The Witch's threat that if anyone (the dwarf or Edmund) mentions Aslan's name again, he shall instantly be killed. Did she mean Aslan shall be killed, or he who speaks his name? A later scene implies the latter, and the wording of the threat was changed slightly note "The first one to mention his name again shall be killed" in the BBC adaptation. | |
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Dinosaur Comics: T. rex riffs on a classic example (known as a garden-path sentence): "The horse raced past the barn fell". | |
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The Last Sovereign has a lot of fun with this trope. A succubus in the Stineford Tower complains about the "fucking mold" she is trying to clean. Yarra overhears and is about to ask, but the succubus clarifies that no, it is not mold that you can fuck, just mold that she really, really hates. During the Gathering the Fucklord organizes an event called the "Succubus Hunt", leading Yarra to wonder what the succubi are hunting. Turns out to be rare butterflies. A good way into the event the Fucklord reveals the twist; it's the succubi who are being hunted and the incubus kings are the hunters. This series Flavor Text for items. |
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In an episode of I Love Lucy, there was a comedic stage show featuring a "Man Eating Tiger"; Ricky holding a tiny, edible model tiger and taking a bite out of it. | |
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In The Tick episode in Europe, Tick encounters the two Fortissimo Brothers, who, he is told, have the strength of 10 men. He then asks, "Is that five men each or 20 altogether?" | |
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From a Mickey MouseWorks short adapting Around the World in Eighty Days, which was recycled for the House of Mouse episode "House of Scrooge": | |
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From The Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy 1978, Fit the Sixth: | |
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Friends: One episode has Joey being interviewed: In the first episode, when Monica says she's got a date with "Paul the wine guy," Phoebe asks, "Does he sell it, drink it, or complain a lot?" In another episode, Chandler questions whether "the place with the big fish" refers to one big fish or several big fish. Then there was a time Monica got a catering job for "a funeral for 60 people." Rachel gasps in horror, "Oh, my God, what happened?!" before she adds, "60 guests." The tragic "Got the keys" incident that led to everyone accidentally getting locked outside while Thanksgiving dinner burned. Monica insists she phrased it as a question ("Do you have the keys?") before they all rushed outside, but the others insist they heard it as an affirmative statement ("I've got the keys."). |
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The Goon Show: A subversion of the old "when I nod my head, hit it" gag in the 1950s. There is also a rather amusing example that happened partly off stage in "Operation Christmas Duff", a Christmas Special that was broadcast on the World Service and was aimed at British forces overseas. It began: In "Six Charlies in Search of an Author", Seagoon reads the instructions on a book of matches: "To ignite match, detach it and strike sharply against bottom" — and promptly sets fire to his trousers. |
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Part of Jessie's backstory in Pokémon: The Original Series involves her dream of becoming a Pokémon nurse—one who acts as a nurse to Pokémon. She spots an ad for Pokémon Nurse School, which she thinks is perfect...until she realizes it's a school for Pokémon nurses, i.e. nurses who are Pokémon as well. | |
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In Goliath Awaits, a group of divers hear Morse Code from the "wreckage" of The Goliath that ends with the sign-off message "Beware, McKenzie. Turns out it was actually made by The Bow People and was meant to be interpreted as "Beware McKenzie." | |
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In the Doctor Who New Adventures/Sherlock Holmes crossover novel The All-Consuming Fire, when Holmes tells a junior librarian at the Library of St John the Beheaded that he's interested in stolen books, the librarian replies that they have a number of documents on that subject, including one that sheds new light on the fire of Alexandria. (He's kidding.) | |
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In The Fugitive, Helen Kimble's last words, "Richard... He's trying to kill me...", gets interpreted by the prosecutors as Helen identifying her husband Richard as the assailant, when in fact she was calling to him, begging for help. | |
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