- From: Philip & Le Khanh <Philip-and-LeKhanh@Royal-Tunbridge-Wells.Org>
- Date: Sun, 06 May 2007 14:52:45 +0100
- To: public-html@w3.org, www-html@w3.org
Someone (I forget who) earlier wrote that the use of a preposition in final position cannot affect the meaning of a sentence. The following example shows that whilst it does not actually affect the meaning of the sentence, it most certainly reduces its intelligibility. > These are the same customers you are referring to whom Microsoft thought > would need MS Bob and the Talking Paperclip? One thing is to give them > enough rope to hang themselves, but a boobytrapped thermonuclear weapon > running on a rand(time) countdown… Is that really wise? - Me to MS rep. My initial parsing led me to believe that the speaker had in mind the mental model "These are the same customers you are referring", "to whom Microsoft thought would need MS Bob and the Talking Paperclip?", rather than the intended "These are the same customers you are referring to" "whom Microsoft thought would need MS Bob and the Talking Paperclip?" The first is, of course, complete and utter nonsense, but "to whom" embedded in an apparently literate construction does lead the reader to believe that "to whom" was intended and not "to, whom" ! Philip Taylor
Received on Sunday, 6 May 2007 13:52:45 UTC