Syntactic Ambiguity - Examples

Examples

Here are some examples:

The cow was found by a stream by a farmer. (Did the farmer find the cow near the stream? Or was the cow found near a stream that was near a farmer? Or did the stream find the cow near a farmer?)

John saw the man on the mountain with a telescope. (Who has the telescope? John, the man on the mountain, or the mountain?)

Flying planes can be dangerous. (Either the act of flying planes is dangerous, or planes that are flying are dangerous.)

They are hunting dogs. (Either "they" are hunting for dogs, or those dogs are a type known as "hunting dogs".)

Eye Drops Off Shelf. (Describing eye drops that came from a shelf, an eye that fell from its location on a shelf, or an eye that delivered a shelf)

I'm going to sleep. ("Going" can be a verb with destination "sleep" or an auxiliary indicating near future. So it can mean "I am (now) falling asleep", "I am (in the future) intending to sleep" or "I am leaving (this event) to (go and) sleep")

The word of the Lord came to Zechariah, son of Berekiah, son of Iddo, the prophet. (Which of the three is the prophet?)

The British left waffles on Falklands (Did the British leave waffles behind, or is there waffling by the British Left?)

Monty flies back to front. (Monty returns to the front line, Monty flies backwards, the Monty variety of flies are backwards, or the Monty variety of flies return to the front?)

The Electric Light Orchestra (An orchestra of electric lights, or a light orchestra that's electric)

Stolen painting found by tree. (Either a tree found a stolen painting, or a stolen painting was found sitting next to a tree.)

I'm glad I'm a man, and so is Lola. (can mean "Lola and I are both glad I'm a man", or "I'm glad Lola and I are both men", or "I'm glad I'm a man, and Lola is also a man", or "I'm glad I'm a man, and Lola is also glad to be a man"). Ray Davies deliberately wrote this ambiguity into the song, referring to a cross-dresser.

Rubber baby buggy bumpers. (Bumpers made of rubber designed for baby buggies, bumpers made for buggies that carry rubber babies, or bumpers for rubber buggies that carry babies.)

Little Hope Given Brain-Damaged Man (A brain-damaged man is unlikely to recover, or a brain-damaged man is causing another situation to have little hope of resolution, or someone gave a brain-damaged man to a small girl named Hope.)

Somali Tied to Militants Held on U.S. Ship for Months. (Either the Somali was held for months, or the Somali was just now linked to militants who were held for months. One could also imagine rope was involved, at which point lexical ambiguity comes into play.)

Free Ireland. (Is it a syntactical entity, a Republican call-to-arms or just an amazingly good deal?)