Correct me if I am wrong...

[Brew-Happy]

Ok,

Lately, I have heard a statement on TV from news people and such that strikes me as wrong.

Generalized statement:

"Not only is it X, but it is also Y."

Now in my mind, this statement should be phrased such that Y is always greater than X. My justification is that I would try phrase this as:

"Not only is it X, but more importantly it is also Y."

It just seems logical to me.

Now to an example:

Locally we have an issue where people attending the local university football games are parking along a new highway system, despite the many No Parking signs. The news agency was reporting that more signs were going up and more tickets+towing was going to occur.

The reporter stated it thus:

"Not only is dangerous to park here, but you can get ticketed"

To me that is saying the ticket is more important that danger to life.

Help mere HBT logicians. I have seen your handy work with false arguments and such.

Am I wrong here? If I am, I will certainly concede as such.

Thanks for the mental clarity.

 

[JesseRC]

your wrong , it just a statement .

 

[Hammy71]

Kinda like...."Not only will your dick fall off.....your finger will stink too....."

I'm a very logical person that has very little patience for the illogical. The reporter's statement is ludicrous at best. Just because you went to college dosen't make you smart. Just because you write for a newspaper doesn't make you smart either. I've stopped writing to my local rag because the only thing I got outta it was high blood pressure. The last one I wrote in about was 2-3 years ago. The court had convicted some 70 year old man that had cancer for several child molestations/rapes. The front page article was about nothing but how this poor man was old and was gonna die in prison and how horrible it was.....I blasted them....

 

[Cape Brewing]

yeah... I think you're wrong too.

I don't see how one coming after the other has anything to do with importance.

"Not only could you be killed in a car racing accident, but innocent bystanders could be hurt by flying debris"

.... you're point is the more "significant" of the two nees to come second?

yeah, that's crap

 

[shecky]

The flaw in your argument is your assumption that TV newspeople are smart. They have good hair, that's all. The void under that hair is large enough to qualify as a black hole.

 

[dataz722]

About 30 seconds ago I just read a headline that is much much worse.

"College students turn up missing"

Just think about that for a second.

 

[Brew-Happy]

yeah... I think you're wrong too.

I don't see how one coming after the other has anything to do with importance.

"Not only could you be killed in a car racing accident, but innocent bystanders could be hurt by flying debris"

.... you're point is the more "significant" of the two nees to come second?

yeah, that's crap

In your statement both outcomes are equal: Someone gets damaged.

But, if I were to say: "Not only could you be killed in car racing, but you could spend a lot of money." The two do not equate to me.

I am more minded in math statements I guess. Such as, "Not only is X greater than Y, but X is greater than Z."

The flow of the statement just trips me up when I hear it.

This could be just in my head, but I doubt that I am the only one.

I wish I knew what this type of comparison statement was called. I guess that I what I am hoping from some of you. Many of you seem to have experience with philosophical logic.

 

[Brew-Happy]

The flaw in your argument is your assumption that TV newspeople are smart. They have good hair, that's all. The void under that hair is large enough to qualify as a black hole.

Granted this is probably a lower budget individual that was doing the segment.

I have been known to make statement flubs myself, much to the enjoyment of my wife.

 

[Bopper]

About 30 seconds ago I just read a headline that is much much worse.

"College students turn up missing"

Just think about that for a second.

That headline is not OK.

 

[shecky]

In your statement both outcomes are equal: Someone gets damaged.

But, if I were to say: "Not only could you be killed in car racing, but you could spend a lot of money." The two do not equate to me.

I am more minded in math statements I guess. Such as, "Not only is X greater than Y, but X is greater than Z."

The flow of the statement just trips me up when I hear it.

This could be just in my head, but I doubt that I am the only one.

I wish I knew what this type of comparison statement was called. I guess that I what I am hoping from some of you. Many of you seem to have experience with philosophical logic.

It's called parallel form. I'm not aware of any rule stating that the former must be greater than the latter, but I'd tend to agree with you purely from a logic standpoint.

 

[Brew-Happy]

It's called parallel form. I'm not aware of any rule stating that the former must be greater than the latter, but I'd tend to agree with you purely from a logic standpoint.

Thank you! Now to research....

 

[shecky]

Oops. Should have said I'm not aware of any rule stating the latter should be greater than the former.

And I'm a writer. Jesus, I should just give up.

 

[Cape Brewing]

Two outcomes are equal??? one person dying isn't more "significant" or "damaging" than someone simply getting hurt?

The thread makes my head hurt

 

[Brew-Happy]

For greater clarity, this is known as Correlative Construction (A subset of Parallel Construction).

The only rule I find is the word form after "only" and "but" must be the same.

This statement I THINK is incorrect:

Not only is this annoying but it is prone to errors as well.

Should be written:

Not only is this annoying, but is prone to errors as well

WOW. Ask a question and your whole day is open to new ideas.

Thanks Shecky.

It would seem that any form of comparative logic in this statement is purely the opinion of the one who is reading it. Me, I like to have proper comparisons. A ticket does not equate to bodily safety.

BTW, this would cause me to pause as well

"College students turn up missing"

Just think about that for a second.

I have heard that papers are usually written at a 5th grade level, but that does not mean we should write at a lower level.

So much for the information age being of any grammatical use. :cross:

 

[Brew-Happy]

Two outcomes are equal??? one person dying isn't more "significant" or "damaging" than someone simply getting hurt?

The thread makes my head hurt

LOL!

Glad that I could be of some service to you

 

[Bobby_M]

I think of it like "in addition to this, also that". I agree it sounds better if the more dire, awesome, extreme, significant statement is last but it matters less the more similar they are. But not only am I horrible with the English language, I also tend to kill Chia Pets.

 

[mordantly]

Granted this is probably a lower budget individual that was doing the segment.

I have been known to make statement flubs myself, much to the enjoyment of my wife.

they dont even wear pants behind the news desk!

anyhoo, the op is misunderestimating word power.

 

[Brew-Happy]

they dont even wear pants behind the news desk!

anyhoo, the op is misunderestimating word power.

Tell me about it. I applied the rules of logic statements to a non-logical situation. Go figure. :cross:

 

[uglygoat]

all whales are mammals, but not all mammals are whales. that's what i remember from logic.

 

[Hang Glider]

Therefore, if she floats, she's a duck!

 

[homebrewer_99]

The problem was those college girls couldn't open a seat belt underwater...it's all their parents fault!!!

 

[FreakinA]

If she sinks, she wasn't a witch! I love logic.