Scope ambiguity: a limerick --- 'There was an young lady of Kent

Who said she knew what men meant

When they asked her to dine

Gave her chicken and wine

She knew what men meant but she went.'

Inviting someone for diner has been and keeps being a routine gesture of socializing among people. Nothing seems to be ambiguous in the formulation in particular of the fourth line, which gives details about the menu. There is nothing vague: diner and menu. Nevertheless, the ambiguity is more subtle, as the extra meaning is not expressed in words, but it hide in the minds of the protagonists.

Source author: Petru Dumitriu PetruD@diplomacy.edu