May 16, 2006

Ambiguously numbered pronoun

My fascination with all things Apple has me occasionally reading the (likewise, occasionally) funny Crazy Apple Rumors Site. Yesterday's post was mildly funny, with a bit of corporate social commentary thrown in for good measure. What I found most interesting, though, was a very nice example of them being deliberately ambiguous between singular and plural. (Emphasis added.)

Crazy Apple Rumors Site has learned that former Apple General Counsel Nancy Heinen was released from the firm after failing to produce a pair of testicles. [...]

"We knew, of course, that Nancy was a woman," Jobs said. "But she long assured us that she had a pair of testicles that she kept in a safety deposit box somewhere." [...]

Late in April, Heinen reportedly stalled for time by saying that she had "loaned out the testicles to a friend who had forgotten to return them and then went on vacation and [she] couldn't get a hold of them."

"Them" apparently meaning either the friend or the testicles. Apple's male board members were apparently not impressed as they are usually quickly able to get a hold of their testicles.

Some related posts:

Less closely related (but still relevantly interesting):

[ Comments? ]

Posted by Eric Bakovic at May 16, 2006 04:56 PM