Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[fw]

Hello everyone.

The passage below is from an article in today�s newspaper.

Do I understand that (A) + (B) = �in the bloodiest apparent reprisal for�� in the passage below?
(A) �in the bloodiest reprisal for ��
(B) �in an apparent reprisal for ��

In the bloodiest apparent reprisal for the attack on one of the holiest Shiite sites, men in police uniform seized 12 Sunni rebels suspects and killed 11of them.

Best regards,
Fw

[Meadowlark]

Hello Fw,

The sentence is poorly written, but I believe your interpretation is the intended meaning. Although reading newspapers is helpful when learning a language, it is important to keep in mind that newspaper and book editing requirements differ. Newspapers are likely to contain many more errors and poorly constructed sentences. You will also find that the quality of writing varies widely from one newspaper to another. Just because something is in print doesn't mean it's correct, either factually or grammatically!

[Jintii]

I think you've got it.

It looks to me -- and I am just guessing -- like the writer wanted to say "bloodiest reprisal", but could not because it was not proven that it was indeed a reprisal. So s/he or the newspaper editor inserted "apparent", which created an awkward sentence but avoided the greater sin (in journalism) of reporting opinion as fact.