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There may be too many people who just understand what is meant and don't notice the grammar problem. If you could make it funny for those who wouldn't "get" that part of the humor, then those who would could enjoy your piece on both levels.
Posts: 8826 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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posted
The funnier ones are not actually misplaced, but possibly ambiguous. "I saw Richard Nixon flying over the Grand Canyon".
With the sentence you mention, how do you bring it across that you are being funny? Most people will either not get it or assume you have poor grammar.
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I once heard two people on TV commentating on Lady Di and Prince Charles as the entered some function together after one of their many 'apart' phases.
Commentator 1: Here comes Prince Charles with Lady Diana wearing a dress that really shows off her legs.
Commentator 2: Yes, how nice to see them back together.
I could never figure out whether it was a gag or not.
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Oh, that was just an example of a misplaced modifier. I haven’t even tried to write the piece yet.
Posts: 126 | Registered: Feb 2007
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I must relate my most favorite example. Real story, years ago my husband and I were watching a boxing match between Larry Holmes and someone else (I forget who--I shall call him Boxer X.) The announcer was the infamous Howard Cosell.
The boxers closed in and were hammering away at each other. They got so close that they butted heads. One boxer received a cut on his head from the encounter, and it started to bleed.
Howard Cosell: "...and Boxer X is bleeding from the butt....;"
We laughed so hard we missed the next several minutes of the fight.
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