*"*Each has promised his son..." is for me the least ambiguous.

Dick

On Fri, Jul 20, 2012 at 4:18 PM, Scott Lavitt <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Wrong pronoun. Both have promised "his" son.
>
> --- On *Fri, 7/20/12, Martha Galphin <[log in to unmask]>* wrote:
>
>
> From: Martha Galphin <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Grammar question
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Friday, July 20, 2012, 12:53 PM
>
>  Found in a book on screenwriting:
>
> “In that film, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad [*sic*] battle to achieve
> the same goal--the acquisition of the last popular action figure for sale
> that Christmas season. Both of them have promised their son, and they must
> not fail.”
>
> My question concerns the clause “both of them have promised their son . .
> . .”  Other than a rewriting of this sentence, is there any way to clarify
> the meaning? Now it reads as though Schwarzenegger and Sinbad have a son in
> common which is not the case. (Each has only one son; so, *sons* wouldn’t
> work.) If rewriting is the answer, what would you suggest?
>
>
> Thank you,
> Martha
>
> ------------------------------
> Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2012 14:34:53 -0400
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: politics on ATEG; instance of semantic broadening
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> The  ATEG list is dedicated to discussion of teaching grammar and other
> language-related issues. Its members represent a range of political
> viewpoints, and even serious political discussion would take us far afield,
> resolving nothing, and engender rancor. There are many outlets for
> political screeds; ATEG is not one of them. Those who abuse this list
> should lose their privilege to participate in it.
>
> To change the topic back to language: it was jarring to hear a Denver
> newspaper reporter, interviewed on NPR this morning, describe the Colorado
> mass murderer as "the gentleman who did this." For the reporter and likely
> for some Americans as well, the word "gentleman" has broadened from its
> original meaning to denote simply a male person, with apparently neutral
> connotation.
>
> Dick
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