I passed a van the other day with a custom paint job that advertised the name of a company - Budget Generators. My first thought upon seeing the van was that I would love to have someone generate a budget so my family could take a trip to a tropical island for spring break this year (This is the way my wordplay-loving, sarcastic mind operates).
Unfortunately, that is not the company's line of work.
Here is the information I found when I googled the name of the company:
Merchant Information
Generator Systems, Home, Installation, Natural Gas, Whole
Main Website,
Hours: 24/7
Payment: cash/check
Merchant Information
Generator Systems, Home, Installation, Natural Gas, Whole
Main Website,
Hours: 24/7
Payment: cash/check
The name of the company can be interpreted as (1) a noun phrase made up of an adjective plus a noun, or (2) a noun phrase consisting of a noun plus noun compound word.
(1)
(2)
It is the multiple meanings of the words "budget" and "generator" that lead to this ambiguity. From the thefreedictionary.com:generator - a machine that converts mechanical energy into electricity to serve as a power source for other machines.
or
generator - someone who originates or causes or initiates something; "he was the generator of several complaints".
budget n. - allowance, means, funds, income, finances, resources, allocation
or
budget adj. - inexpensive, economy, bargain, sale, reduced, keen, reasonable, low-priced, low-cost, cut-price, economical, cheapo
What kind of budget generator would you prefer?
We definitely think alike! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd isn't it fun!!!
ReplyDeletePerhaps you're the first on the scene to blatantly address "ambiguity generators".
ReplyDeleteI call them the same thing,but I'd like less ambiguous word for identifying those ambiguous things. Perhaps ambiguator.
Or perhaps I'll Google research some more. =D