1, #127 - Stop & Think
Estimated Read Time: 59 seconds.
When’s the last time you read something that stopped you in your tracks?
There’s something magical about that—when it’s something surprising or challenging or beautiful.
This week, though, I came across a line that gave me pause… in an uncomfortable way:
“The government plans to raise taxes were defeated.”
Does that make your brain hurt a bit? Congratulations, you’ve now experienced a Garden Path Sentence.
This is a linguistic trick, where a sentence is built in a way that makes you think it means one thing, only to end in a way that forces you to reread. Here are a few more:
“The old man the boat.”
“Mary gave the child the dog bit a bandage.”
“The man who hunts ducks out on weekends.”
“The horse raced past the barn fell.”
In general, I’m with the velociraptor: that’s not clever, that’s just bad editing. But after reading a couple, I saw the fun in trying to crack each one like a riddle.
Which made me think: It’s interesting how much our brains go into autopilot—reading each one of these little tricksters was an experience of “I know where this sentence is going… ah, wait, no… I don’t.” They made me wonder how often I should be slowing down and considering what I’m reading, even when the sentences do take me where I expect them to go.
Perhaps the ‘garden path’ description is fitting: Purposely ineffective at getting from point A to point B—but good for making you stop and pay attention to things you might otherwise miss.
Insight inspired by some random social media post and some extensive browsing of Wikipedia.
This really had me scratching my head! We all laugh about writing "We're eating, Grandma" without the comma - but I love your application. How often do I jump to the end of the paragraph or interrupt a friend because I assume I know what is being presented? This is especially important when the author / my friend is one who thinks creatively or in a different way than I do. Whether for enjoyment or analysis, we need to employ our 2 ears (or 2 eyes) for more than 2 seconds to actually absorb something. Thanks!
This is, in one sense, what poetry is all about!