Misplaced modifier
Q:
I hope the members of The Grammar Exchange will comment on the following
question, which appeared recently on the CNN site:
Do you agree with New York's decision to ban handheld cell phones while
driving?
Is this construction both common and generally acceptable? Or is it
"newspaperese" and acceptable in only the way that shortened headlines
are acceptable? The meaning is perfectly clear although the adverbial
"while driving" doesn't have a properly stated referent. I'm more concerned,
however, with the accuracy, if accuracy is still a virtue, of the object
noun phrase of the verbal "to ban." It is, in fact, THE USE of the phones
that's banned, not the phones themselves. Have I been teaching English
too long? Have I been out of the USA too long?
Philip Franklin
pfranklin@bilgi.edu.tr
A:
The Grammar Exchange objects to this sentence for the same reasons
that the writer does.
First, "while driving" appears to describe the "cell
phones," which is illogical. Second, indeed the object should be
"the use of handheld cell phones."
Instead, consider these suggestions:
Do you agree with New York抯 decision to ban the use of handheld
cell phones by drivers behind the wheel?
Do you agree with the decision of the New York legislature made to
prohibit drivers from using cell phones while driving?
Do you agree with New York抯 decision to ban the use of handheld
cell phones by a driver in a moving vehicle?
All of these sentences seem a bit unwieldy and are probably too long
for a face-to-face interview or even a viewers?poll that CNN might
conduct. If the sentence appears in a context in which both the speaker
and the listener(s) already know what the decision is, then the question
could be simply: "Do you agree with this decision?" However,
as the sentence appeared on CNN, "newspaperese" has constructed
a comfortably sized sentence, but has sacrificed accuracy.
Rachel
A:
I would revise:
Do you agree with New York抯 decision to ban handheld cell
phones while driving?
like this:
Do you agree with New York抯 decision to ban drivers' use
of handheld cell phones while driving?
It is important to include that the prohibition is against particular
cell phones, the handheld ones, and that the prohibition is during a
particular activity, driving. That information is vital to the message
about the restriction.
Dana Cooper
d7cooper@hotmail.com
(To see another comment on this topic, click
here.)
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