Definition:
An ambiguous modifier (usually an adverb) that appears to qualify the words both before and after it. See also:
Examples and Observations:
- What you hear often you will believe.
- Instructors who cancel classes rarely are reprimanded.
- "squinting modifier, squinting construction. The squinting modifier resides chiefly in college-level handbooks. The term is used of an adverb or phrase that stands between two sentence elements and can be taken to modify either what precedes or what follows.
"Let us look at an example sent to us from a correspondent in Korea:The store that had the big sale recently went bankrupt.
Here recently can be interpreted as modifying either the preceding or following part. But the content of the sentence suggests it is a learner's sentence; a native speaker would not be likely to convey the information in such a flat and unspecific manner.
"The examples of the squinting modifier shown in college handbooks are comparable to the one we have used here, and they seem pretty unlikely to occur in actual writing. This degree of improbability, along with the dearth of examples in our own files, suggests to us that the squinting modifier is more of a theoretical possibility than a real problem. It would seem most likely to occur when a split infinitive is being carefully avoided by putting the would-be splitting adverb ahead of the infinitive, as in. . . authorities would be required correctly to anticipate their requirements--W. Manning Dacey, The British Banking Mechanism, 1951"
(Merriam-Webster's Concise Dictionary of English Usage, 2002) - Writing an essay clearly will improve your grade.
- I told Merdine when the game was over I would drive her to the bingo hall.
Also Known As: two-way modifier, squinting construction
