analytical vs non-analytical

...what is interdasting here, is that context means everything in conversation...

at first, i could see how the literal interpretation could go "either way"...

i.e. "6", being preceeded by a clause mentioning the subject "eggs" could mean 6 applies to eggs, "if there are eggs"... of course, in this case the wife may have been careless in giving out the orders, because how would the husband react if "there were eggs", but there were less than 6 eggs present...???

..also, the other interpretation: the clause "if there are eggs", could be seen as a conditional modifier to the original subject, "gallon of milk", regardless of the reasoning behind it (i.e. husband doesn't ask: "what is the reasoning behind getting more milk just because there are eggs present?")

...so what is a husband to do?

...react literally:

presume the "6" applies to gallons of milk, because if the wife was referring to "eggs", she should have known that eggs generally come packaged and quantified as "dozen", or "half-dozen"

 

Because she can't leave the kitchen.

 

Your not by chance an attorney are you ? LOL I have only seen / heard that verbose of a statement used for a simple question by criminal attorneys LOL

Just kidding :}
Cypher

 

Of course, your punctuation is wrong. The sentence would be "Get a gallon of milk and, if there are eggs, get six." Notice the relocation of the commas.

Not related to your question, but single word numbers (one, six, etc) are commonly spelled out, with only larger numbers (1,909, etc) commonly expressed with digits.

In my case, I'd get a gallon of milk and six eggs. That is, of course, if I ever actually did the grocery shopping.

 

...attorney?...nope... just someone w/ an attention for details on things that don't matter very much...

 

Six eggs! You'd have to be an idiot or an English professor to get 6 gallons of milk.

I'm in the grocery store all the time for my missus. Happy wife, happy life. And she makes me sammiches practically every day

 

I get carried away at times. Do I still have to leave?

 

lol....no, just giving you shit

 

I think we all know the real answer to this question but if you really wanted to have a much different result you should pose the question like this:

"so, a woman asks her husband to go to the store and she says, "get a bottle of beer, and if there are eggs, get 6."

the husband came home with 6 bottles of beer.

how would you interpret the wife's request?
what would you have come home with?"

I bet the argument swings the other direction this way...