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Friday, December 5, 2008

Criminal Sentence 136: Who Has Many Male Visitors?

Mike Lee in the UK was kind enough to share this blunder:

I just heard a reporter's introduction to an interview on the evening news, and I'm pretty sure it was a criminal sentence!

He said, "She told me about her neighbour's lifestyle, and her many male visitors", which makes it sound like the interviewee has "many male visitors", not the neighbour. Oops!

He's right. The reporter definitely should have said "...and her neighbour's many male visitors" (or neighbor's if you're in the USA).

2 comments:

Glenda said...

Would "She told me about her neighbour's lifestyle and many male visitors" work?

The Sentence Sleuth said...

Yes, I think your wording works. Perhaps even "her neighbor's lifestyle involving many male visitors," assuming she is a woman of the night.