Adverbials

To the perverse or evil, the above headline (Daily Telegraph, 19 May 2009), Cooking with Children, may suggest they are about to read an article giving them recipe ideas using children as ingredients — free-range children, anyone? — something like the following book title, Cooking with Spices:

Adverbials such as the above have many meanings. The headline is intended to have an ‘accompaniment’ meaning, e.g. I went to the zoo with my children today, while the book title has an ‘instrument’ meaning, e.g. I opened the tin with a sharp knife. It is only when the reader misinterprets the intended adverbial meaning that hilarity ensues.