Maybe it’s a Deliberate Pun
First panel. What are the hens doing? Laying or lying?
The hen says “lay.” But is she referring to laying eggs or being passive and lying in their nests? Maybe the author is wrong; maybe he’s presenting the hen as somewhat illiterate.
Don’t you be illiterate!
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Here’s Why I Recommend Against Using Pronouns
I made some of the words bold to make them easier to find.
A man comes running to the doctor shouting and screaming in pain. “Please doctor you’ve got to help me. I’ve been stung by a bee.” “Don’t worry;” says the doctor. “I’ll put some cream on it.” “You will never find that bee. It must be miles away by now.” “No, you don’t understand,” says the doctor. “I’ll put some cream on the place you were stung.” “Oh! It happened in the garden in back of my house.” “No, no, no!” says the doctor getting frustrated. “I mean on which part of your body did that bee sting you?” “On my finger!” screamed the man in pain. “The bee stung me on my finger and it really hurts.” “Which one?” the doctor says. “How am I supposed to know? All bees look the same to me!”
From a FB post. sorry I don’t have a better reference.
All the humor in this joke depends on the misunderstanding caused by antecedents being misunderstood. Well, it helps to not picture the body language…
What Not to Do With a Range
Recruiters talk about a minimum of 2 to 5 years experience. So what’s the minimum? 2 years, 5 years, or not? This is incorrect use of a range.
Here’s another example; the kid quotes a badly written advertisement. Is the limit 50% or is the limit more?
So if you’re going to write a range of something , be careful not to contradict it with a mismatching, contradictory limit.
Don’t Hyphenate Separable Verbs!
“Seek out” is a separable verb—no hyphen!
“Half-dollar store” is okay. “Half” is an adjective and “dollar” is a noun.
Is This Double Negative Correct or Not?
Here’s the comic:
His use of “appositive” is correct. “Rex” = “dog.” If he had more than one dog, he should get rid of the comma after “dog.”
But an incorrect double negative would normally have “don’t” instead of “doesn’t.” So is the double negative correct or not?
