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The fallacies in this section are all cases where a word or phrase is used unclearly. There are two ways in which this may occur.

The word or phrase may be ambiguous, in which case it has more than one distinct meaning. The word or phrase may be vague, in which case it has no distinct meaning.

Equivocation

The same word is used with two different meanings. For example:

"Criminal actions are illegal, and all murder trials are criminal actions, thus all murder trials are illegal."

"The sign said 'fine for parking here', and since it was fine, I parked there."

Amphiboly

An amphiboly occurs when the construction of a sentence allows it to have two different meanings. For example:

"Last night I shot a burglar in my pajamas."

"Save soap and waste paper."

Accent

Emphasis is used to suggest a meaning different from the actual content of the proposition. For example:

"It would be illegal to give away Free Beer!"

"The first mate, seeking revenge on the captain, wrote in his journal, "The Captain was sober today!" (He suggests, by his emphasis, that the Captain is usually drunk.)

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