Easy. As noted above, it's a dangling modifier, so it needs to be attached to a subject that dangles. Tales don't dangle, or shouldn't, though they can leave the reader dangling.
The problem, obviously, is the spelling of the subject: "tales." It ought to be "tails." Now, the subject also dangles, and therefore fits the dangling modifier.
The sentence describes a prehistoric monster with a nondecomposable, regenerating tail armed with razor-toothed suckers and littered with eyes the size of dinner plates! Not the sort of critter to sneak up on . . .
All comments are subject to approval before they are published, so they will not appear immediately. Comments should be civil, relevant, and substantive. Anonymous comments are not allowed and will be unceremoniously deleted. For more on my comments policy, please see this entry on my other blog.
That's an easy one: dangling modifier. The tales do not have "razor-toothed suckers and eyes the size of dinner plates."
ReplyDeleteCharles beat me to it.
ReplyDeleteToo easy, man. I knew it at the midpoint of the sentence.
ReplyDeleteJournalists never cease to amaze me with their writing acumen.
ReplyDeleteEasy. As noted above, it's a dangling modifier, so it needs to be attached to a subject that dangles. Tales don't dangle, or shouldn't, though they can leave the reader dangling.
ReplyDeleteThe problem, obviously, is the spelling of the subject: "tales." It ought to be "tails." Now, the subject also dangles, and therefore fits the dangling modifier.
The sentence describes a prehistoric monster with a nondecomposable, regenerating tail armed with razor-toothed suckers and littered with eyes the size of dinner plates! Not the sort of critter to sneak up on . . .
Jeffery Hodges
* * *
aye. Yeah the 'tales' :) easy mistake.
ReplyDeleteIn fairness to USA Today, that particular sentence is in a quote pulled from Discovery News.
ReplyDeleteCharles,
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed, but it wasn't at Discovery that I found the sentence. In fact, I never followed that link back to the original source.
BTW, I did sneak a peek at the first two paragraphs of Black Flower.