- “I convinced her children are noisy.”
- (Not her children—you convinced her of something.)
- “The dog that I had really loved bones.”
- (Emotional whiplash.)
- “Fat people eat accumulates.”
- (Your brain inserts a verb that isn’t there.)
- “The man who hunts ducks out on weekends.”
- (No duck-hunting here.)
- “The old man the boat.” (The elderly do not man the boat; rather, old people are the ones who man the boat).
- “The horse raced past the barn fell.” (The horse was [that was] raced past the barn and then it fell).
- “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.” (A play on words where “flies” changes from a verb to a noun).
- “The man who hunts ducks out on weekends.” (The man is not “hunting ducks out”; he “hunts” [noun/verb] and then “ducks out” [escapes]).
- “The complex houses married and single soldiers and their families.” (“Complex” is a noun phrase, not an adjective).
- “I like going to the park and watching the children run around because they don’t know I’m using blanks.” (A joke about the phrasing “running around”).
- “The management plans to cut vacation days are rejected.” (The plan, not the management, is being discussed).
- “The cotton clothing is made of grows in Mississippi.” (The clothing is not made of cotton-clothing).
These sentences work because they take advantage of temporary ambiguity, leading you up the proverbial garden path.