[johnfowles]

Originally Posted by niffer

Common sense isn't

Of course it is!!

bells and pills
OK I apologise for having bothered everybody again with my idiosyncrasy.
Oh do shut up hooligan there is no "t" in that word
The problem is that I just cannot help doing the mathS every time I hear The Wreck.
In a similar vein I am drafting this whilst doing my weekly pill bottle filling routine, and I have before me another, vaguely similar ambiguous absurdity , which again is a mathematical conundrum.
I have two bottles of medications here from the same drug supplier
one says with unquestionable logic and clarity
"Take 1 capsule by mouth once a day"
The other says enigmatically
"take 1 tablet three times a day"
Which is just not possible because once taken it cannot be retaken, unless I regurgitate it that is, neither does it specify which orifice to take it by.
Just like the bell ringing I know what it really means but this time there is not even the excuse of a missing comma!!
To close I will now present a supreme example of the confusion that ambiguities can and do cause. the famous "Four Candles" sketch from 1976.
In my opinion this is a great example of British humoUr by one of Britain's best loved comedy duos The Two Ronnies (Ronnie Corbett and the late Ronnie Barker)

I must have watched that thirty/forty times but never stop laffing at it

full details are on a wiki at:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Candles