The title of 1214

[littlebum2002]

Should the title of 1214 be "And They're Squishier ones, too" since it is referring to the spare dwarf heads? Otherwise I don't really understand what it's trying to say.

[Quebbster]

Should the title of 1214 be "And They're Squishier ones, too" since it is referring to the spare dwarf heads? Otherwise I don't really understand what it's trying to say.

I think it works as-is.
Looks like we have som spare dwarf heads to work with. And the squishier ones, too.

[Fyraltari]

I think it works as-is.
Looks like we have som spare dwarf heads to work with. And the squishier ones, too.

But shouldn't that be:
Looks like we have some spare dwarf heads to work with. And squishier ones, too.

or as the OP worded it:

Looks like we have some spare dwarf heads to work with. And they're squishier ones, too.

?

As is, I also struggle to make sense of this construction, grammatically speaking.

[Worldsong]

I believe it is grammatically correct as is, although admittedly an unusual way to say it.

[mjasghar]

The meaning is the squishier type of head
It’s a common grammatical structure in English.

[Gift Jeraff]

I think "And the Squishier Kind, Too" would've sounded better.

[MoonCat]

The title functions as an appositive phrase to the noun 'dwarf heads.' Just grabbing the Wikipedia definition:

Apposition is a grammatical construction in which two elements, normally noun phrases, are placed side by side, with one element serving to identify the other in a different way; the two elements are said to be in apposition.

Basically, in English (and Latin, and many other languages), you can mention a thing, and then describe it again, often in parenthetical commas, in order to add more identification without just piling on adjectives. Or, in spoken English, because you are mentioning something and then need to include more information after the thought.

E.g., 'hand me the sword, the green one.'

Or 'My ally, Vaarsuvius, is tired.'

[littlebum2002]

The title functions as an appositive phrase to the noun 'dwarf heads.' Just grabbing the Wikipedia definition:



Basically, in English (and Latin, and many other languages), you can mention a thing, and then describe it again, often in parenthetical commas, in order to add more identification without just piling on adjectives. Or, in spoken English, because you are mentioning something and then need to include more information after the thought.

E.g., 'hand me the sword, the green one.'

Or 'My ally, Vaarsuvius, is tired.'

But would you use "and" in an appositive phrase?

"Hand me the sword, and the green one"?

If this were an appositive phrase I think it should be

"Looks like we have some spare dwarf heads to work with. Squishier ones, too."

[BaronOfHell]

I read the "and" part as an expression of excitement. I am not a native English speaker, so I'm probably in a minority here.

I find "the" to be natural. Perhaps it works differently in English, as I only know that in my language when speaking about something specific you use "the", and when speaking about something in general, the "the" part is omitted.
We have 3 heads, the leftovers two are the squishier ones.

[mjasghar]

Now we’re getting into spoken versus written English
Spoken English often uses ‘and’ at the start of the new sentence to tie it back to the previous sentence. That’s because spoken English is obviously less structured and planned, so it naturally has pauses as people think of their next word.
If you listen to transcripts of interviews instead of newspaper reports you’ll see what I mean as the reports usually clean things up.
Xykon’s intent was something like ‘oh, and they are the squishier type of head as well’. But the contracted phrase is acceptable in spoken English because there’s clearly nothing else he could be talking about as the subject of that clause.

[Mightymosy]

I quite don't understand the title as well

[Fincher]

"We've got some spare heads to work with...and squishier ones, too." - These heads are squishier than the other head I was talking about

"We've got some spare heads to work with...and the squishier ones, too." - Out of all the dwarf heads that are present (of which there are three), these are the squishier ones

[KorvinStarmast]

I read the "and" part as an expression of excitement. I am not a native English speaker.

It's conversational English, and, it's casual English (idiomatic, even). You grokked it properly.

[Precure]

IMHO it should be "And they're squishier as well!"

[Quizatzhaderac]

So I would say Rich broke several "soft rules" of English; leading to a Garden-path sentence.

1. Starting a sentence with "and"
2. No punctuation after the "and"; there should be a comma (if it's like "additionally, ") or an explication point (if it's an interjection)
3. Dropping the subject
4. Dropping the copula ("are").
5. Article disagreement: some heads / the ones
6. Using any kind of grammatical structure the depends on close proximity of phrases in a situation where those phrases are split between two texts

I wouldn't say any of these are strictly forbidden (especially when mimicking informal speech). But all six at once is a pretty bad combo.

[Throknor]

So I would say Rich broke several "soft rules" of English; leading to a Garden-path sentence.

1. Starting a sentence with "and"
2. No punctuation after the "and"; there should be a comma (if it's like "additionally, ") or an explication point (if it's an interjection)
3. Dropping the subject
4. Dropping the copula ("are").
5. Article disagreement: some heads / the ones
6. Using any kind of grammatical structure the depends on close proximity of phrases in a situation where those phrases are split between two texts

I wouldn't say any of these are strictly forbidden (especially when mimicking informal speech). But all six at once is a pretty bad combo.

Titles generally aren't sentences so none of those rules apply.

[Fyraltari]

Titles generally aren't sentences so none of those rules apply.

The title is a continuation of Xykon’s speech. It’s definitely (part of) a sentence.

[Verdruss]

I've never read it as a continuation of Xykon's speech, more as the commentary of an omniscent spectator. That's why I think the title is fine because of

"We've got some spare heads to work with...and the squishier ones, too." - Out of all the dwarf heads that are present (of which there are three), these are the squishier ones

Although I wouldn't parse it as one sentence.

[BaronOfHell]

It's conversational English, and, it's casual English (idiomatic, even). You grokked it properly.

Thank you! I also learned a new word. Now I wonder if, say, an orc shaman named Grok, is named so on purpose.

[Throknor]

The title is a continuation of Xykon’s speech. It’s definitely (part of) a sentence.

OK; then most of these don't apply because it's part of a sentence and not a complete sentence.

So I would say Rich broke several "soft rules" of English; leading to a Garden-path sentence.

1. Starting a sentence with "and"
2. No punctuation after the "and"; there should be a comma (if it's like "additionally, ") or an explication point (if it's an interjection)
3. Dropping the subject
4. Dropping the copula ("are").
5. Article disagreement: some heads / the ones
6. Using any kind of grammatical structure the depends on close proximity of phrases in a situation where those phrases are split between two texts

I wouldn't say any of these are strictly forbidden (especially when mimicking informal speech). But all six at once is a pretty bad combo.