What's wrong with this sentence fragment? 2

[MeGustaXL]

Given that "eluding" means "Escaping from", what kind of grammatical error is committed in:

I was escaping from to...?

See thread1256-1281592, where eluding is used in place of "alluding".

Chris

Beer is God's way of telling us He loves us and wants us to be happy - Benjamin Franklin

 

[Gooser]

Damn, MeGusta! I didn't mean to cause such a stir. I apologize for my malapropism. I find myself to be exceptionally flippant today.

--Gosoer

 

[MeGustaXL]

No need to apologise, Goose! I'm genuinely curious as to what (if anything!) is wrong with a sentence which contains two (apparently) contradictory words, one after the other.

Yours just happened to be the first example that started my train of thought. <extends hand of friendship>

"...he was left right out of it..." No error?

"...I was climbing up down the lane..." Hmmmm?

'Spose it depends on the context, really.

Chris

Beer is God's way of telling us He loves us and wants us to be happy - Benjamin Franklin

 

[KenCunningham]

Chris - can you give more of the fragment so that it's in context (assuming there is one)? I must admit the first definition that comes to mind when I think of elude is 'avoid' rather than 'escape', though the latter is perfectly reasonable of course. Or perhaps I'm deluded too!

I don't mind people who aren't what they seem. I just wish they'd make their mind up.

 

[MeGustaXL]

Ken,

It was a post by Gooser, in thread1256-1281592 so I'll leave it to him to quote himself, if that's OK?

Chris

Beer is God's way of telling us He loves us and wants us to be happy - Benjamin Franklin

 

[tsdragon]

I'd say the problem is that "from" and "to" both require an object, and that fragment seems to be missing the object of the "from". To be proper you would have to say:

I was escaping from the office to the park.



Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[MeGustaXL]

Thanks Tracy, that's correct of course.

Is there a word for that kind of grammatical blunder, viz litotes, redundancy, neologism, hyperbole, tautology each describe their own boo-boo: is there one for this situation?

Chris

Beer is God's way of telling us He loves us and wants us to be happy - Benjamin Franklin

 

[snuv]

Should I sell the situation I was escaping from to the newspapers?

"If it could have gone wrong earlier and it didn't, it ultimately would have been beneficial for it to have." : Murphy's Ultimate Corollary

 

[MeGustaXL]

Nice one snuv: illustrates the point about context perfickly!

The part which is least likely to break, will almost certainly fail at the instant when its loss will cause the greatest damage, expense and embarrassment to the User - One of Murphy's many Laws

Chris

Beer is God's way of telling us He loves us and wants us to be happy - Benjamin Franklin

 

[KenCunningham]

Context is all, as the politicos will have it.

I don't mind people who aren't what they seem. I just wish they'd make their mind up.

 

[tsdragon]

snuv, that deserves a star! I couldn't for the life of me come up with an example like that. Probably because I was thinking in terms of "escaping to" rather then "something-else to".

Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[CajunCenturion]

But you're still correct tsdragon. The problem in the fragment presented in the OP (I was escaping from to ...) is that the preposition 'from' does not have an object.

However, that error does not exist in the question that snuv asks: "Should I sell the situation I was escaping from to the newspapers?". In this case, the preposition 'from' does have an object: 'the situation'. Granted, the object comes before the preposition, but that's not an error. The error, as you correctly pointed out, is not having an object at all.

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[MeGustaXL]

I was eluding (rather obscurely) to Johnny Cash's being arrested in Starkville.

Now, replace "eluding" with "escaping from", remove the adverbial parentheses and you have this:

I was escaping from ... to Johnny Cash's being arrested in Starkville.

or even:

I was avoiding ... to Johnny Cash's being arrested in Starkville.

So, Is there a word for that kind of grammatical blunder, viz litotes, redundancy, neologism, hyperbole, tautology each describe their own boo-boo: is there one for this situation?

Chris

Beer is God's way of telling us He loves us and wants us to be happy - Benjamin Franklin

 

[CajunCenturion]

I've always known that error as 'preposition stranding'.



--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[SantaMufasa]

<into the weeds>
I thought that 'preposition stranding' was the lining up of prostitutes on a street corner...or was that 'proposition stranding'?
</into the weeds>

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I can provide you with low-cost, remote Database Administration services: see our website and contact me via www.dasages.com]

 

[SilentAiche]

Where propositions are concerned, many sentences end with parole. I'm no expert; what we need here, is a "John."

Or an undercover officer, whose "f"-erts have been rewarded, or reworded.

Tim

[blue]_____________________________________________
"As a former farmer, I measure my produce in onces."[/blue]

 

[tsdragon]

I was eluding (rather obscurely) to Johnny Cash's being arrested in Starkville.

The problem with replacing "eluding" with "escaping from" in that sentence is that "eluding" is incorrect in the first place. The word should have been "alluding".
The poster was "referring to" not "avoiding".


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[MeGustaXL]

Presactly what I said in the 1st post of this thread, Tracy!

The circle is complete!

Chris

Beer is God's way of telling us He loves us and wants us to be happy - Benjamin Franklin

 

[tsdragon]

Presumably completing the circle should mean that we've actually accomplished something here.

Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[MeGustaXL]

Yes, I believe we have, thanks to CC, who said:

I've always known that error as 'preposition stranding'.

So that's what I'm gonna call it from this day forward. If ever I see it. Which I doubt.



Chris

Rule Two: What's in it for me? - My Dad