Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 18:34:41 -0500
From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at mail.press.jhu.edu>
To: <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Ambiguous headline
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

>kfl at KeithLynch.net 01/16/03 06:20PM
>I recently saw the following alarming headline at CNN.COM:
>
>  One of six New York men pleads guilty to aiding al Qaeda
>
>I was rather distressed, until I read the story.  No, it doesn't
>really assert that 1.67 million of the ten million male residents
>of the Empire State have admitted to assisting terrorists.
>
>It's a wonder we're able to communicate at all with this language.

Then there's Brit-English, Irish-English, Aussie-English. . .

"Giving English to an American is like giving sex to a child. He
knows it's important but he doesn't know what to do with it."
Adam Cooper (19th century)

http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/~jphb/american.html

mjw