Is the expression "Mary and other beautiful girls" ambiguous?

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nicogu

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May 25, 2013
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Chinese
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I am not a native-speaker.
I am confused with the expression"Mary and other beautiful girls",

Can I say the expression is ambiguous?like, It can be understand as "Mary is one of those beatuiful girls" and "Mary is a girl but not beautiful" or even
"Mary is a boy and others are beautiful girls"?

In other words, can we say "an ugly girl and other beautiful girls"?

Thanks in advance!
 
As it is written, "Mary and other beautiful girls" means to me that Mary is a beautiful girl. However, the meaning can be changed by inserting a comma or two.
Thus, "Mary, and other beautiful girls" is slightly ambiguous about whether Mary is beautiful or not, whilst "Mary, and other, beautiful, girls" certainly implies that Mary is not beautiful. However, none of these three versions could be taken to mean that Mary may not be a girl, because the word "other" connects Mary with girls.
 
Thank you very much for your explanation. I am convinced.:)



As it is written, "Mary and other beautiful girls" means to me that Mary is a beautiful girl. However, the meaning can be changed by inserting a comma or two.
Thus, "Mary, and other beautiful girls" is slightly ambiguous about whether Mary is beautiful or not, whilst "Mary, and other, beautiful, girls" certainly implies that Mary is not beautiful. However, none of these three versions could be taken to mean that Mary may not be a girl, because the word "other" connects Mary with girls.
 
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