Another Antecedent Problem

rogersgeorge on March 14th, 2020

Here Dagwood offers his boss two antecedents to reply to. He spells them out in the second panel:

https://www.comicskingdom.com/blondie/2020-01-15

(Short versions: “promise,” or “get mad.”)

I see this pop up occasionally in conversations. And it’s not infrequently a source of conversational humor.

But when you write expositorily, try to avoid this ambiguity!

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Rogers George has been a technical writer for more than 20 years. He has written on subjects as diverse as outhouse assembly, restaurant reviews, software, information security, and scientific equipment. He has his own writing consultancy and is always happy to discuss writing and grammar. Drop him a line at curmudgeon@writing-rag.com.

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