Re: English Grammar

On Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:06:01 -0800, Peter T. Daniels wrote:

On Dec 14, 4:56 pm, "J. Sommers" <jsomm...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Fri, 14 Dec 2007 10:19:20 -0800, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
On Dec 14, 12:52 pm, "J. Sommers" <jsomm...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Fri, 14 Dec 2007 02:34:32 -0800, ad wrote:
Hello,
I have a question.

A.]
Consider this statement below:-
He played music on the Mp3 player in his car, which was newly
purchased.

Now what connotation does this above sentence give , does it mean:
1.) that the MP3 player is newly purchased Or 2.) that the car is
newly purchased

This reminds me of the TV show "Special Victims Unit." I
guess
that what is special is the unit, but I can't resist thinking that
they worded it this way facetiously. How do we know anyway that the
adjective is supposed to qualify? In this case the context provides
the clue (unless, like I said, you take it tongue-in-cheek) but a
variation like, say, "Special holiday gifts" is not unambiguous.

The division that handles sex crimes in NYC is not in fact called the
SVU! (And no, it's the victims that are special, not the unit.)

Fancy that! Special, in what sense?-

Victims of sex crimes.

I see. Well, at least my linguistic instinct was right: "Special"
qualifies "victims", not "victims unit." It just sounds like a unit
devoted to victims who also happen to be celebrities, or something like
that.


.

Relevant Pages

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    ... He played music on the Mp3 player in his car, ... Now what connotation does this above sentence give, ... Phrases can also be modifiers. ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: English Language Grammar
    ... He played music on the Mp3 player in his car that was newly purchased. ... have to move the "newly purchased" phrase in front of the "mp3 ... Phrases can also be modifiers. ...
    (alt.usage.english)