I like to play with ambiguous language. In fact, this is a lot of fun and a lot of people have a lot of fun doing these things.
Which means it can go either way. This is one of the main driving forces behind covert hypnosis patterns. You throw out a couple of ambiguous sentences, and your poor listener is suddenly burning up all his brain power trying to figure out what it means.
This can lead to some really fun party tricks, or some incredibly mind-blowing therapy sessions in which the client is led to find all kinds of hidden resources within himself that didn’t exist before.
It can also serve to reduce resistance, as the more “brain processor power” you use, the harder it will be to resist.
Here’s a quick example of an ambiguous sentence.
“Time flies like an arrow.”
What does this mean? There are at least three meanings. One is that time moves quickly just like an arrow moves quickly.
Another could be an instruction. Measure the speed of flies in the same way that you would measure the speed of an arrow.
One more could be describing a certain group of flies, time flies (as opposed to fruit flies) that like a particular arrow.
There are many of these little patterns that have made newspaper headlines, either on purpose or by accident. One of my favorites is:
“Eye drops off the shelf”
Now, what they wanted to say was that something was wrong with a certain brand of eye drops, so while they were solving the problems, they couldn’t sell them.
But it sounded like there was an eyeball on some shelf and it fell off.
This kind of makes you do a mental “double take” while trying to figure out what they mean.
Another of my favorites is this:
“Prostitutes appeal to the Pope”
Now, the intention was for some sex workers to ask the Pope for something. Maybe a dispensation, maybe a special prayer, who knows.
But it also seems that the Pope likes prostitutes.
Naturally, when you mix your language with a specific language and an ambiguous language, you can have a LOT of fun. Especially when you hit people’s mental funny bone when you’re talking.
They will go into a deep and wonderful trance, and they will be mesmerized by everything that comes out of your mouth, without really knowing why.
Can you think of places in life where this could be useful?
