Oh, yeah, I remember Maggie, I meant looking for other motorists caught up in the chase. And no, I didn’t find any other drivers clearly visible, let alone the specific woman from here. But now I’ll be looking if there’s ever a strip at a gas station or something.
Just curious: is the phrase “broken-down car lady” easy and unambiguous to parse for an AmE speaker? I (Swede, dunno if I’m representative) keep seeing “broken-down (car lady)” even though I suspect it should be “(broken-down car) lady”. (“broken-downĂ—(car, lady)” could conceivably work, but that wouldn’t be regular usage, right?)
No ambiguity here. She’s just a random woman who happens to have a broken-down car. “Car-Lady” describes a different character.
American English is my native language, specifically the Eastern New England dialect, so maybe screwy grammar just comes naturally. “Close the light” and “drive slow your car” aren’t unheard of around here.
It’s decidedly not proper grammar because it’s using a noun phrase as an adjective, but for me “broken-down car lady” gets subconsciously translated as “the lady with the broken-down car” without any effort, probably because “the broken-down lady with the car” doesn’t really make as much sense, since AmE speakers usually use “broken-down” to describe objects and not people or animals.
A similar phrase that would have me flip-flopping between interpretations would be “big, scary cat lady”. Is it a big scary lady with (presumably many) cats? Or a lady with a big scary cat?
Yes, I’m sure their intentions in helping her are purely because she needs help, and not because she’s a pretty girl. Especially Joe, who most definitely does not try to get in the pants of every pretty girl he meets.
Didn’t Joe graduate in engineering or something? He should be the one helping with the car.
Nah, by the time he’s finished the car will be able to talk and question its gender identity.
I’m going to resist the urge to see if broken-down car lady appears in the Toedad chase getting her car damaged.
I’ll check tomorrow.
No, I’m pretty sure that was Maggie that Amazi-Girl “dropped in on.”
Oh, yeah, I remember Maggie, I meant looking for other motorists caught up in the chase. And no, I didn’t find any other drivers clearly visible, let alone the specific woman from here. But now I’ll be looking if there’s ever a strip at a gas station or something.
Originally posted:
January 7, 2002
look Joe, if you wanted dibs, why did you give a heads-up
Yeah! What Pudding Lady said!
Does Jason even know HOW to fix a car?
Jason: “I topped it off with petrol. Does that count?”
“now the car can fly. you are welcome”.
Just curious: is the phrase “broken-down car lady” easy and unambiguous to parse for an AmE speaker? I (Swede, dunno if I’m representative) keep seeing “broken-down (car lady)” even though I suspect it should be “(broken-down car) lady”. (“broken-downĂ—(car, lady)” could conceivably work, but that wouldn’t be regular usage, right?)
There is ambiguity there, and I am a native AmE speaker.
No ambiguity here. She’s just a random woman who happens to have a broken-down car. “Car-Lady” describes a different character.
American English is my native language, specifically the Eastern New England dialect, so maybe screwy grammar just comes naturally. “Close the light” and “drive slow your car” aren’t unheard of around here.
It’s decidedly not proper grammar because it’s using a noun phrase as an adjective, but for me “broken-down car lady” gets subconsciously translated as “the lady with the broken-down car” without any effort, probably because “the broken-down lady with the car” doesn’t really make as much sense, since AmE speakers usually use “broken-down” to describe objects and not people or animals.
A similar phrase that would have me flip-flopping between interpretations would be “big, scary cat lady”. Is it a big scary lady with (presumably many) cats? Or a lady with a big scary cat?
Of course, I think the canonical example of adjectival ambiguity is the one-eyed, one-horned, flying, purple people eater.
She could also be a lady who IS a big scary cat.
Yes, I’m sure their intentions in helping her are purely because she needs help, and not because she’s a pretty girl. Especially Joe, who most definitely does not try to get in the pants of every pretty girl he meets.
Just do what I did, and siphon the gas out of her car, so you can show up and say ‘car troubles?’