Today at the beginning of a business writing class, I asked attendees to introduce themselves by telling us something they enjoy. One woman announced:
"I enjoy driving around topless in my Jeep."
Was she serious? I stopped and stared, looking for hints from her. She gave no clue. After my awkward pause, I asked, "Did I hear you correctly?" She responded "Yes" and then explained:
"I enjoy driving around with the top down in my Jeep."
Ah. Now I understood. It was a case of a misplaced modifier: The Jeep was topless–not the woman.
Here is a topless revision, in the interests of propriety:
"I enjoy driving around in my topless Jeep."
Lesson: If you want to stop a conversation (and traffic), drive around topless. But if you want to communicate (and drive) safely, drive around in a topless Jeep.
Lynn
Syntax Training
I also drive a convertible and had a similar situation. I went to lunch with a male friend and when we got back, after driving around with the wind in our hair, we had trouble focusing on our work. He blurted out in front of a whole table of co-workers, “we go out to lunch and you pull your top up and now we can’t concentrate on anything else!!” Boy, did that raise some eyebrows. I had to quickly correct him with, “the top of my car, not my top!” to my embarassment and the relief of my co-workers.
Anne, that’s a perfect example. Talk about stopping a conversation!