This story in the New York Times has a great example of a sentence that has 7 different meanings depending on which word is stressed.
The sentence is: “I never said she stole my money.”
Here are the 7 ways to say it, and their meanings:
I never said she stole my money. (Meaning: Someone else may have said so.)
I never said she stole my money. (She may or may not have stolen it. The only thing you can say with surety is I didn’t accuse her of the theft.)
I never said she stole my money. (I may have pointed at her or written it somewhere.)
I never said she stole my money. (I said her sister did it. You don’t listen too good, do you?)
I never said she stole my money. (She merely found it on the floor and thought it was hers.)
I never said she stole my money. (Better check your wallet pronto.)
I never said she stole my money. (But did you notice the Degas is missing?)
What other meanings can you think of?
P.S.: The Times story is about an IBM computer that will compete with humans in a real game of Jeopardy! It’s quite interesting; check it out.
