amphibology
/ˌamfɪˈbɒlədʒi
/noun (plural amphibologies)
A phrase or sentence that is grammatically ambiguous, such as She sees more of her children than her husband.What is perhaps most revealing about his text is its composite character, as it enacts what Browne might have called the ‘amphibologies,’ the ambiguous frames of mind of which micrography is the theater....
- I think deliberate amphibologies are used in drafting to get to agreement more than we might like to think.
- I introduce a general method, the amphibologization method, to generate amphibologies in pre-existent logical calculi.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French amphibologie, from late Latin amphibologia, from Latin amphibolia, from Greek amphibolos 'ambiguous' (see amphibole).