Saturday, February 14, 2009

dangling modifier

"A dangling modifier is a phrase or clause which says something different from what is meant because words are left out." (from englishplus.com)

Why does this sound like it is describing my life? My sad, little dangling life. Participles pointing their fingers at the wrong nouns. At the wrong people. At the wrong me. Fingers long enough to be mistaken for Pinocchio's nose. Facial features that possess dual functionality: aside from their normal, biological function, they also operate as being a very reliable and self-incriminating lie-detector. We are all like Pinocchio. Our language extending back and forth, lies that are sounded out in our very speech, leaving behind the stale taste of last year's cigarettes on the tips of our dangling tongues.