Saturday, May 23, 2015

Bad Grammar Makes You Look Unprofessional -- And Stupid

Just got this tweet from Historic Scotland:


A hand was found by archaeologists, clutching a goblet. How? Why? Find out in our blog about food, drink and sieges


Really? The archaeologists were clutching a goblet?  Didn't that make it hard for them to dig?

This is called a "misplaced modifier."  It can make even the most serious sentence hilarious.
The corrected version should read, "Archaeologists found a hand clutching a goblet."

1 comment:

  1. Hey, give them a break. Sweeping dirt off more dirt with a little brush can be incredibly boring. I don't blame the archaeologists for using one of their hands to hold a goblet with a little libation.

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