amphibology

n. vagueness in a language; phrase or sentence which can be explained in many ways; ambiguous phrase or sentence (Grammar)

This article is about the concept in literature, for the fallacy see equivocation. Amphibology or amphiboly (from the Greek amphibolia) is an ambiguous grammatical structure in a sentence.Some examples:Teenagers shouldn't be allowed to drive. It's getting too dangerous on the streets. This could be taken to mean the teenagers will be in danger, or that they will cause the danger. I once shot an elephant in my pajamas. A famous quotation by Groucho Marx from the comedic film Animal Crackers, it is unclear if the speaker shot the elephant while wearing pajamas or if the elephant was in the speaker's pajamas.
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Noun
1. an ambiguous grammatical construction; e.g., `they are flying planes' can mean either that someone is flying planes or that something is flying planes
(synonym) amphiboly
(hypernym) ambiguity

(n.)
A phrase, discourse, or proposition, susceptible of two interpretations; and hence, of uncertain meaning. It differs from equivocation, which arises from the twofold sense of a single term.
  

amphibology /,æmfi'bɔlədʤi/
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