> From: J Matthew Pearson
> Subject: Re: USAGE: Garden paths
>
> > >J Matthew Pearson wrote:
> > >
> > > Again, I think
> > > you're missing my point: Garden path sentences demonstrate
that *acceptability*
> > > and *grammaticality* are two entirely different things! A
sentence can be
> > > unacceptable without being ungrammatical.
> >
> > John Cowan wrote:
> >
> > And sentences can be acceptable while ungrammatical, too.
>
> Hmm. I thought about that when I made my original comment, but
> when it came down to
> it I couldn't actually think of any examples of acceptable but
> ungrammatical
> constructions. I suppose one example might be resumptive
> pronouns in relative
> clauses, which English speakers routinely turn their noses up at,
> but which get
> produced all the time:
>
> "I just talked to that man who I was wondering if you've ever met him."
> "That's the man who I just asked you why he wasn't at the party."
Arrgh!! [nose turned toward the zenith]
> It's easier to come up with sentences which are grammatically
> well-formed but appear
> to be semantically vacuous. A favourite example of mine is:
>
> "More people have been to Berlin than I have."
ROTFLOL!! :-)
David
David E. Bell
The Gray Wizard
dbell@graywizard.net
www.graywizard.net
"Wisdom begins in wonder." - Socrates