I Want You To Want Me - Garden Path Sentence

Yesterday I read an entry by ctakemoto-san and learned a new thing about English language: garden path sentence. I didn't know about it. Thank you, ctakemoto-san.

http://lang-8.com/346820/journals/1363114

A garden path sentence is a sentence that makes people confused. It is a sentence as follows: when a person has read the sentence until the middle of it he has an interpretation. Then after reading the rest of the sentence he finds the interpretation incorrect.

ctakemoto-san said that a song title "I Want You To Want Me" by Cheap Trick is an example of a garden path sentence. When a person has read "I Want You" he thinks that its meaning is usual "I want you'. Then after reading the rest of the sentence he finds his interpretation wrong. He realizes that its meaning is "I want that you want me".

(By the way, the Japanese title of this song is 「甘い罠」. I don't know why "I Want You To Want Me" was translated to 「甘い罠」. There is no garden path in 「甘い罠」 any more.)



I had an interest in garden path sentences. So I did a little research and found the following page (in Japanese):

英語 慣用句　lead down(up) the garden path 起源
http://www.eigo21.com/etc/kimagure/z023.htm

This page says that a garden path sentence is caused by several reasons.

(1) omitting a conjunction 'that'

examples:
I convinced her children are noisy.
She told me a little white lie will come back to haunt me.

In this case, adding 'that' makes the sentences normal.
I convinced that her children are noisy.
She told me that a little white lie will come back to haunt me.

(2) omitting a relative

examples:
Fat people eat accumulates.
The cotton clothing is made of grows in Mississippi.

In this case, adding a relative makes the sentences normal.
Fat that people eat accumulates.
The cotton which clothing is made of grows in Mississippi.

(3) a verb whose past and past participle forms are same

examples:
The girl told the story cried.
The raft floated down the river sank.
The horse raced past the barn fell.

(4) a word that is both a noun and a verb

example:
The old man the boat
The rich water lilies.
The man who whistles tunes pianos.
The prime number few.

(5) omitting a comma

examples:
When Fred eats food gets thrown.
Until the police arrest the drug dealers control the street.

In this case, adding a comma makes the sentences normal.
When Fred eats, food gets thrown.
Until the police arrest, the drug dealers control the street.

(6) the subject it a 'that' clause
A conjunction 'that' is mistakenly considered to be an adjective.

example:
That Jill is never here hurts.

(7) ambiguity in parsing

examples:
The dog that I had really loved bones.
We painted the wall with cracks.

Possible parsing trees are:
{The dog that I had} really loved bones.
The dog that {I had really loved bones}.

We painted {the wall with cracks}.
We painted {the wall} {with cracks}.

By the way, as for Cheap Trick I also like this song. This song became a hit song in Japan first. After a success in Japan they succeeded in the US.