The importance of avoiding ambiguous pronoun usage

SkyHog

SkyHog

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It's funny, in all the time I spent in English classes, I never really found a good example of ambiguous pronoun usage. Today, reading the story about Lidle's plane crash, I found a perfect example from CNN.com:

"Lidle is the second Yankee to die in the crash of a plane he owned."

Sure sounds like Lidle has owned 2 planes, and both of them crashed, eh?
 
SkyHog said:
It's funny, in all the time I spent in English classes, I never really found a good example of ambiguous pronoun usage. Today, reading the story about Lidle's plane crash, I found a perfect example from CNN.com:

"Lidle is the second Yankee to die in the crash of a plane he owned."

Sure sounds like Lidle has owned 2 planes, and both of them crashed, eh?
Click to expand...

Hmmmm, not really the way I read it, but.... OTOH, where I live now, it's best to use ambiguous pronouns so not to offend the he/shes.
 
SkyHog said:
It's funny, in all the time I spent in English classes, I never really found a good example of ambiguous pronoun usage. Today, reading the story about Lidle's plane crash, I found a perfect example from CNN.com:

"Lidle is the second Yankee to die in the crash of a plane he owned."

Sure sounds like Lidle has owned 2 planes, and both of them crashed, eh?
Click to expand...

If I didn't know anything about the accident I would summize from the quote that two Yankees died in the plane crash. I would be wondering who is the second Yankee who died with him.
 
" "Lidle is the second Yankee to die in the crash of a plane he owned."

I was wondering who the first Yankee to die in this person's other plane was?
 
sbonek said:
nicely done Ed... it's not everyday you see a Sidd Finch reference...
Click to expand...
What every happend to Sidd? I know that; He's a pitcher, part yogi and part recluse. Impressively liberated from our opulent life-style, Sidd's deciding about yoga
 
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