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205:. For instance, the noun phrase "Time flies" could refer to all time flies or particular time flies, and "an arrow" to all arrows, a particular arrow, or different arrows for different flies; compare "Fruit flies like a banana", "Fruit flies ate a banana", "Fruit flies live on a banana". Moreover, "Time flies" could refer to "flies of the
369:, there is no reason to believe Marx actually said this. Instead, it traces the Marx attribution to a post from July 9, 1982 on the Usenet group net.jokes; however, the closest match in the Google Groups archives is really dated to September 8, and does not mention Marx.
152:
Modern
English speakers understand the sentence to unambiguously mean "Time passes fast, as fast as an arrow travels". But the sentence is syntactically ambiguous and alternatively could be interpreted as meaning, for example:
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gives "fruit flies like bananas" as contrasted with "time flies like an arrow" as an example of the difficulty of handling ambiguous syntactic structures as early as 1963, although his formal publications with
142:
The first sentence predisposes the reader towards the incorrect parsing of the second. After reparsing the second, it becomes clear that the first sentence could be re-parsed in the same way.
135:. The reader only discovers that the parsing is incorrect when it gets to the "banana". At that point, in order to make sense of the sentence, the reader is forced to reparse it, with "
119:
The point of the example is that the correct parsing of the second sentence, "fruit flies like a banana", is not the one that the reader starts to build, by assuming that "fruit" is a
217:". Indeed, a copy of the magazine or the song could also be the subject doing the flying. Furthermore, "like" as a verb could either signify general enjoyment, or the usage of a
416:"similarly to" and the verb "enjoy"). For example, the second clause can be read as "fruit travels through the air similar to a banana" or as "certain insects enjoy a banana".
170:) Measure the speed of flies using methods that an arrow would use—i.e. (You should) time flies in the same manner that an arrow would time them.
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163:) Measure the speed of flies like you would measure the speed of an arrow—i.e. (You should) time flies as you would time an arrow.
177:) Measure the speed of flies with qualities resembling those of arrows—i.e. (You should) time those flies that are like an arrow.
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according to one grammatical structure, and is then forced to back up and reparse when the sentence ends in an unexpected way.
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Jurafsky, Daniel & Martin, James H. Speech and
Language Processing. Pub. Pearson Prentice Hall 2008.
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19:"Time flies like an arrow" redirects here. For the concept of the one-way direction of time, see
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An early example of a pun with the expression "Time flies" may be found in a 1930 issue of
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e.g., Anthony
Oettinger, Susumo Kuno, "Syntactic structure and ambiguity of English",
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A fuller exposition with the banana example appeared in a 1966 article by
Oettinger.
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396:. The wordplay is based on the distinct meanings of the two occurrences of the word
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The expression is based on the proverb: "Time flies", a translation of the Latin
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The cognitive paradigm: an integrated understanding of scientific development
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343:, its themes are popular among practitioners and students in fields such as
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The sentence "time flies like an arrow" is in fact often used to illustrate
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of repeating a single word, but with a different meaning each time.
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The verse is popular as a specimen of didactic humor trading on
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197:) Certain flying insects, called "time flies", enjoy an arrow.
100:
629:
Anthony G. Oettinger, "The Uses of
Computing in Science",
423:, a phrase that the reader or listener normally begins to
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This article prompted the following response in a letter:
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do not use that example. This is quoted by later authors.
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The official youth magazine for the Boy Scouts of
America
496:
D. Reidel (1992), University of
Chicago Press (1992).
186:) Time moves through the air in a way an arrow would.
642:, W.H. Freeman, 1966. Lib. of Congress No. 66-29386
74:
Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana
608:
611:The computer age and its potential for management
310:While farm girls slim their boyfriends' flanks;
139:" as the subject and "like" as the main verb.
654:, November 1966, p. 12, correspondence column
235:, where "fly" is to be taken in the sense of
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211:magazine", or "flies of the Pink Floyd song
301:And thin farm boys like farm girls narrow;
312:That's when the murd'rous thunder rolls –
299:Now, thin fruit flies like thunderstorms,
321:Then's the time to time the time flies –
319:The thin fruit flies like common yarrow;
308:When tax forms tax all firm men's souls,
512:. New York: W. Morrow and Co. pp.
483:
359:The saying is sometimes attributed to
303:And tax firm men like fat tax forms –
7:
638::3 (September 1966); republished as
537:Rigney, Francis J. (February 1930).
437:List of linguistic example sentences
323:Like the time flies like an arrow.
201:In addition, the sentence contains
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715:. Yale University Press. p.
392:It is also used as an example of
317:Like tossed bananas in the skies,
115:Analysis of the basic ambiguities
314:And thins the fruit flies ranks.
51:
30:
265:: You can't. They go too fast.
16:Example of syntactic ambiguity
1:
327:— Edison B. Schroeder (1966)
305:But time flies like an arrow.
757:Linguistic example sentences
615:. Harper & Row. p.
712:The Yale Book of Quotations
547:Boy Scouts of America, Inc.
366:The Yale Book of Quotations
345:natural language processing
193:, i.e. neutrally stating a
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588:Proceedings of the AFIPS
419:This is an example of a
377:The saying is used as a
289:Time Flies Like an Arrow
596:10.1145/1463822.1463864
571:Harvard Alumni Bulletin
506:Pinker, Steven (1994).
127:), "flies" is the main
607:Gilbert Burck (1965).
402:travel through the air
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509:The Language Instinct
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421:garden-path sentence
341:Gerard Nolst Trenité
89:garden path sentence
652:Scientific American
632:Scientific American
590:Fall 1963:397–418.
490:Marc de Mey(1982),
472:Syntactic ambiguity
467:Sentence processing
408:), and of the word
404:" and the noun for
363:, but according to
333:syntactic ambiguity
294:An Ode to Oettinger
147:syntactic ambiguity
93:syntactic ambiguity
87:as an example of a
379:linguistic example
373:Use in linguistics
355:Other attributions
203:semantic ambiguity
131:, and "like" as a
41:about to loose an
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671:on April 15, 2005
335:. Like the poem "
271:Anthony Oettinger
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665:"Chaos poem"
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109:antanaclasis
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640:Information
442:Amphibology
414:preposition
400:(the verb "
349:linguistics
276:Susumu Kuno
257:Scoutmaster
219:like button
195:proposition
191:declarative
183:declarative
137:fruit flies
133:preposition
85:linguistics
64:banana peel
741:Categories
577::205, 1963
543:Boys' Life
478:References
245:Boys' Life
175:imperative
168:imperative
160:imperative
752:Ambiguity
555:0006-8608
337:The Chaos
97:word play
95:, and in
60:fruit fly
431:See also
78:humorous
675:June 4,
462:Perverb
394:punning
225:History
157:(as an
125:subject
101:punning
76:" is a
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107:, and
81:saying
39:archer
425:parse
412:(the
398:flies
387:trope
339:" by
123:(the
62:on a
43:arrow
721:ISBN
691:ISBN
677:2008
551:ISSN
518:ISBN
410:like
347:and
237:flee
214:Time
208:Time
129:verb
121:noun
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