Wait! That's Not What I Meant! & Other Tropes

 

• "Don Cherry was a pioneer in the world of music and his daughter is no less of a slouch." (KPFT radio, Houston, TX. 2:05PM, 5/11/05.)
  Note: It seems that sometimes it just does not pay to be first.
  
  
• "Service Unexcelled" (Company motto written on the sides of all trucks belonging to Southeastern Freight Lines.)
  Note: Some are just inveterate slackers.
  
  
• "Quality is the only option." (Advertising incentive for Gramercy Park Condominiums, Kirby Dr., Houston, TX)
  Note: I'll have it without, please.
  
  
• "Unfortunately, you have to take the good with the bad sometimes." (Bertrand Simmons, president of Texas State University's Metropolitan Houston alumni chapter commenting on a state audit of TSU's alleged mismanagement of its endowment funds. (Houston Chronicle, August 17, 2006, page A6.)
  Note: That is just perverse.
  
  
• "Irwin's father says son knew risks of dying." (Banner to a story reporting Steve Irwin's accidental death in Australia. Page A2, in the Houston Chronicle, September 7, 2006.)
  Note: O, don't we all.
  
  
• "No Acceleration Lane." (Warning sign at an entrance to I10 East near Katy, TX)
  Note: No problem for my '49 Chevy.
  
  
• "Is there any way you could be pregnant?" (Question 12A, "For Female Patient's Only", on the Kelsey-Seybold Patient CT History Form, Rev. 2006-04-13)
  Note: Uh ... Just the usual.
  
  
• "Free rent" (Banner on the side of an apartment building in the 9500 block of Westheimer, Houston, TX)
  Note: OK, I'll have some.
  
  
• "And we'll be there, too, with a live report" (Ron Treviño, reporting on plans of the victim's family members to witness the execution of the murderer. June 6, 2007, 12:04PM, Channel 11, Houston, TX)
  Note: In a manner of speaking.
  
  
• "Apart, we [U.S. Trust & Bank of America Private Wealth Management] were two of the most respected financial institutions in America. Together, our clients can only imagine the possibilities."(Advertisement on page C8, New York Times, July 2, 2007.)
  Note: Now that's frustrating.
  
  
• "... the Syrian state news agency confirmed that he [Imad Mugniyah] was the man killed in the bombing, citing Syria's interior minister, Bassam Abdul-Majeed, who said Syria 'condemns this cowardly terrorist attack ...' ...."(Page A1, New York Times, February 14, 2008.)
  Note: An ostensive definition of irony.
  
  
• "The newspaper [Zimbabwe's state newspaper, The Sunday Mail,] also quoted a ZANU-PF official as saying that the party has rejected an offer from the opposition MDC [Movement for Democratic Change] to form a national unity government, saying such a coalition would be like mixing water with fire." (From "Court to Rule on Zimbabwe Pole Results", April 6, 2008) URL: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/04/06/zimbabwe.election/?iref=hpmostpop. )
  Note: That is a metaphor that I am not familiar with.
  
  
• "If you are Christian,," he [Kisik Lee, coach of the American Olympic archery team] said, "then people can have that kind of empty mind." (Page A12, New York Times, August 20, 2008.)
  Note: Yes, there is some missing context ... but still.
  
  
• "Franken declared winner, but not out of the clear yet." (Kansas City Star. URL: http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics/story/966194.html, January 5, 2009)
  Note: It's all a matter of perspective.
  
  
• "Undercover Police" (Notice emblazoned on the front of a teeshirt, worn by a customer in Kroger's grocery store, Houston, TX. August, 2009. )
  Note: I guess that I just miss the principle.
  
  
• "Burleson County authorities are trying to locate a man who mysteriously went missing on Thursday, September 16 [2010]." (KBTX webpage)
  Note: How many ways are there to do this?
  
  
• "Chevrolet Volt battery upgrade promises less firey [sic] crashes." January 5, 2012. (http://www.slashgear.com/chevrolet-volt-battery-upgrade-promises-less-firey-crashes-05206425/)
  Note: This probably does not mean the same number of crashes but with less fire. It is most likely aiming at fewer crashes with fire of any kind.
  
  
• "New questions about government spending after Obama admin cancels White House tours." March 8, 2013, 2:35-2:40 PM (ET).
• "'Mortality index' raises fresh concerns about President Obama's health care law." March 8, 2013, 2:45 PM (ET).
• "Easter sermon fallout. New questions about attack by pastor." [President Obama was in the audience] April 2, 2013, 2:37-2:41 (ET)
• "White House gets defensive. Faces new questions on budget fallout." April 3, 2013, 2:39-2:43 (ET)
• "New concerns about impact of Obamacare on medical options." December 9, 2013, 11:19 (ET)
• "Doctors issuing new Obamacare warnings before House Committee hearing" December 12, 2013, 12:37 (ET)
• "Critics raise new concerns about Pres. Obama's plan to take on ISIS." September 11, 2014, 2:01 (ET) [The "new" concerns come 17 hours after the plan was announced, leaving little time for the "old" ones.]
  Note: An ostensive definition of innuendo. All examples are from one source ... the "Fair and Balanced" reporting of Fox News,
  
  
• "No One Does More For Less" (Painted on the back of an HEB grocery delivery supply truck, I45N, August 29, 2014. )
  Note: But some may do more for the same price as HEB, or some may do the same as HEB, but at a lower price. The writers need to revisit the motto.
  
  
• "Opposing Views of Defendant at Boston Bombing Trial" New York Times, March 6, 2015, A18.
  Note: I sense two (at least) meanings here, but the difference does not depend on oppose being intransitive in one meaning, and transitive in the other. It seems to depend on the source of the (transitive) opposition, which is left unidentified. It can (i) originate in either one (or more) view that is then the source of the opposition, so that one (or more) view opposes the other(s), or (ii) the opposition originates outside the view(s), so that the views are themselvea in toto opposed.
  
  
• "In the same MSNBC town hall where he made the abortion comments, Trump refused to rule out the potential use of nuclear weapons in Europe or the Middle East to combat Islamic State militants. "I would never take any of my cards off the table," he said." (March 31, 2016) <http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-idUSKCN0WX1V6>
  Note: I think he has his options mixed up.