Self-correcting Syntax

Daniel had been walking around the house with two empty Poland Spring water bottles - one in each hand, and a couple of minutes later, Ian reported an offense committed with these empty vessels. What impressed me was the way that Ian corrected himself right in the middle of a word to avoid conveying a faulty impression of the weapon employed in the assault:

He said, "Daddy, Daniel hit me on the cheek with an empty bottle of wa-... that had water in it."

Why the correction? Because he understood that now that the bottle was empty, it was no longer a "bottle of water," but merely had bottle that had previously contained water.

Ian, May 23, 2009