On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:23:56 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:

[snip]

It says white wires are tied together, and the bare wires are tied
together and not with each other.

No, your sentence does *not* say the "white wires are tied together,
and the bare wires are tied together and not with each other". That
may have been what you meant it say, and that may be what you *think*
it means, but physically, as written, with the combination of letters
you put together it *says* "The white wires and bare wires are tied
together". What it *says* is not even open to discussion. However,
how a reader might interpret the words could be.

I ran it past an English teacher at one of our local schools and here
is her reply:

"The white wires and bare wires are tied together"

"White wires" and "bare wires" are plural nouns and "are" is a plural
conjunction, thus it should be assumed that they are all tied
together. As there is no defining or clarifying clause in the
sentence, the only conclusion a reader can reach is that all of the
wires are tied together.

I would interpret it the same way as that English teacher.
--
35 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"I have found Christian dogma unintelligable. Early
in life I absented myself from Christian assemblies."
-- Benjamin Franklin