Dangling modifiers and literal minds

OK, sort of understand it, but not really.

We never did grammar at school, we were supposed to pick it up by osmosis, reading books and other literature was supposed to make us pick it up intuitively, only for many of us it didn' tand left us confused over anything other than a full stop or a question mark.

missing modifier = while

I caught covid WHILE kissing Santa Clause. It was just on the cheek but I still caught it.

••

Otherwise it means, well, it means just what its says, that I caught covid kissing Santa Clause - in flagrante delicto!.

Mrs Clause must have been out of town. Now I can bribe him for presents! mwahaha

No I still don't understand it?

Here's another one:

I caught covid kissing Santa Clause.

ok

"I shot an elephant in my pajamas." vs I shot an elephant WHILE in my pajamas.

"Oh mother dear, see here see here

our participle we have found!"

it is at the heart of this dangling modifier mystery!

Captain Spaulding then reported that  "How he got in my pajamas I'll never know.

Hurray for Captain Spaulding, the african explorer
 

How do you get the elephant to travel up the barrel without chafing? Some sort of sabot, maybe? 

Rifled or smoothbore? So many questions....

Thanks Iain, I still don't understand though, I've never understood grammar.

That is no reason to shoot an elephant.

I prefer to squint AND dangle.......especially when both directions of squint are true.....proper divergence with clarity as to the heart of the matter for some, perhaps.

"Number thinks being on this forum regularly results in a painful loss of personal productivity."

And with that hanging in the air (at a curious angle, obviously)......I feel a compulsion to p.o. for a while....to reclaim some productivity.

See y'all on the flip side.....and my absense will be like Arnie says btw

With warmth and characteristic obscurity

Number.

TheCatWoman said:

I dont' understand this

https://writingexplained.org/grammar-dictionary/dangling-modifier

A modifier describes or qualifies another part of a sentence. A dangling modifier occurs when the intended subject of the modifier is missing from the sentence, and instead another subject appears in its place.

Understanding wordplay, the sentence made sense.

At least you didn't need a zoom lens

How big are your pyjamas? Why do you have a gun and how did it get upstairs to find them and put them on??!

This sounds way to mad for me

Ehhh, sorry I dont' understand this

I was confused by this headline yesterday: "Campaign to ban London's 'floating' bus stops" - what is a floating bus?! That sounds cool! Why would people campaign to ban it? Maybe it's a good thing the campaign has stopped! But when I clicked the link and read the article it was of course the bus stops which were called floating, and they don't literally float.

What was he or she doing wearing your pyjamas? More importantly,  I'm surprised they fit both of you.

Edit - or maybe they didn't and either your pyjamas were huge or the elephant's were tight. Or maybe you are the size of an elephant,  or maybe the elephant was the size of a human.

Further edit : I'm assuming you both have the same amount of legs.

No brains were harmed in the making of this post.

I hope it was a clean shot..