attachment ambiguity - How can you lift an elephant with one hand?


Here is a question I've encountered:



How can you lift an elephant with one hand?



The answer provided is:



It is not a problem, since you will never find an elephant with one hand.



Now, if I actually want this sentence to mean that can I lift an elephant with a single hand (meaning my own hand), how would I say that?



Answer



The question is perfectly grammatical, but ambiguous (which is part of the joke, actually). Your own interpretation is just as valid as the one stated by the answer and makes more sense from a practical point of view.


It's possible to remove the ambiguity with one of the alternatives provided by the other answers but, really, you shouldn't.


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