Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Caution: Adults at Play

You know that sign we see in neighborhoods, the one that says "Slow Children at Play"? I've always wondered why the kids are so slow. There are signs like this all over town, so there must be a pandemic of slow children. Either that, or these little dickens are faster than any of us thought! It's one of those phrases that makes you go, "Huh?"

Misplaced or dangling modifiers are words that are not close enough to the words they are expected to modify. Often, they cause unintended humor. Here are some good examples*:

  • My parents bought a house from a man with no inside plumbing.

  • My dog was hit by a truck running across the road.

  • Leaking in several places, the scouts abandoned their tents.

  • Dressed in a silk nightgown, he thought his wife looked sexy.
* From the English Department at Louisiana Tech

If I see a sign saying Caution: Adults at Play, I want to actually see some adults playing! I came across this caution sign while searching for a different type of roadside warning, and immediately thought it would be perfect for this blog. =^_^=
Care to share one or two of your own favorites?

3 comments:

Savanna Kougar said...

I always liked ~ Dangerous Curves Ahead

You betcha... her curves are dangerous.

Kayelle Allen said...

LOL! That's good, Savanna! I never thought of that one.

Vivien Jackson said...

"Mind the Hump." Or simply "Hump." There was a great road sign in Capri: it was an exclamation point. No text, just the punctuation. I have no idea what it meant.

And dangling modifiers = the bane of my life.