Definition:
A fallacy that relies on an ambiguous word or grammatical structure to confuse or mislead an audience. Adjective: amphibolous. See also:
Etymology:
From the Greek, "irregular speech"Examples and Observations:
- "Amphiboly is the term attached to fallacies or deceptions that result from faulty or careless sentence structures. The carelessness may be intentional, as in the case of the title of the record album Best of the Beatles, which misled many people into buying it, thinking they were getting a record featuring the best songs of the Beatles. In fact what they had purchased was a record featuring Pete Best, who had been a member of the Beatles early in their career."
(S. Morris Engel, The Study of Philosophy. Rowman & Littlefield, 2002) - "Sometimes the amphiboly is more subtle. Take this newspaper classified ad that appears under Furnished Apartments for Rent:
3 rooms, river view, private phone, bath, kitchen, utilities included
Your interest is aroused. But when you visit the apartment, there is neither a bathroom nor a kitchen. You challenge the landlord. He remarks that there are common bathroom and kitchen facilities at the end of the hall. 'But what about the private bath and kitchen that the ad mentioned?' you query. 'What are you talking about?' the landlord replies. 'The ad didn't say anything about a private bath or a private kitchen. All the ad said was private phone.' The advertisement was amphibolous. One cannot tell from the printed words whether private modifies only phone or whether it also modifies bath and kitchen."
(Robert J. Gula, Nonsense: Red Herrings, Straw Men and Sacred Cows: How We Abuse Logic in Our Everyday Language. Axios, 2007)
Pronunciation: am-FIB-o-lee
Also Known As: equivocation, amphibology
