Tuesday, November 11, 2008

A Taxonomy of Taxiness

This in today's Syracuse Post-Standard:

"At midafternoon, stickers on entrance doors to the restaurant stated,

' This property has been seized for nonpayment of taxes and is in possession of New York state.' "

Yikes! Would I love to be the lawyer representing that defendant, if the sticker posted on the premises has any bearing on the case.

So, let me parse this parsimoniously: if you want to gain possession of one of the largest states in the Union, the venerable Empire State, just stop paying your taxes?

It's a queer bit of illogical logic, but these are odd times.

Who said grammar ain't important (or impotent, pronounced with the accent on the second syllable for humorous effect)?

Talk about the -tax in syntax!

1 comment:

Mark Murphy said...

"This property has been seized for nonpayment of taxes and is in possession of New York state."

Something tells me the governor would be only too glad to hand it over, given this week's fiscal news...

A restaurant in the city once had (and I think still has) a sign in its parking lot saying something like "unauthorized vehicles found on this property will be towed at owner's expense."

Some editor (or, more likely, a lawyer) pasted in the word "vehicle," to make it "at vehicle owner's expense"....

Words, and Then Some

Too many fled Spillways mouths Oceans swill May flies Swamped Too many words Enough   Said it all Spoke too much Tongue tied Talons claws sy...