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in the case of the fruit flies and the banana...



There would be two possible diagrams for that sentence, depending on how you understand it.


How about 'The soup that eats like a meal' or a 'pick-pocket'?


You're trying to condemn prescriptivism? What's your point -- some things can't be diagrammed? Who said they could be?

The first one is deliberately "wrong" for advertising effect, like

"Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should." when the correct English is

"Winston tastes good, as a cigarette should."

The ad copywriters liked how it sounded.


> You're trying to condemn prescriptivism?

No, that's a separate discussion. You can use the diagrams for both description and prescription.

> What's your point -- some things can't be diagrammed?

Well, at most that some things can't be diagrammed naively, and perhaps need a more complicated diagram language.

> The first one is deliberately "wrong" for advertising effect, [...]

No, it's perfectly fine. It's called 'middle voice' and is a normal, if relatively rare, feature of English. Your Winston-ad example also seems like your correction makes it less grammatical.




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