On 3 Oct 2008 at 17:16, John W Kennedy wrote: > > On Oct 3, 2008, at 3:55 PM, mike scott wrote: > > > On 3 Oct 2008 at 10:33, NoOp wrote: > > ... > >> And that is why it is so difficult to write and implement a grammar > >> extension/plugin/add-on. > > > > It's impossible, I'd say. > > > > An old favourite is "Time flies like an arrow". Parses two ways - you > > need semantics to reject the less likely, although in these days of > > science fiction who knows ......... > > > Three. At least. > > "Human life passes by quickly." > > "The species Musca temporis is possessed of an inexplicable fondness > for bow-launched projectiles." > > "Igor! Grab a stopwatch as fast as you can and start writing down the > durations of the flights of those insects!"
Yes. In fact the last of those 'splits' on a grammatical level - the ending phrase could be adjectival and referring to the type of fly, or adverbial and referring to the manner of timing. Again, semantics decides. And gems like "the rat the cat the dog bit caught died" which conveniently only parse one way. (I think :-) ) are never used in real life. -- Permission for this mail to be processed by any third party in connection with marketing or advertising purposes is hereby explicitly denied. http://www.scottsonline.org.uk lists incoming sites blocked because of spam [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mike Scott, Harlow, Essex, England --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
