Dangler

“Dangler (noun): A misplaced modifier or dependent segment of a sentence that often suggests an unintended or jarringly humorous meaning because of its isolation from what it properly refers to, e.g., ‘Sprinting ahead, the cave was soon only yards away’; phrase or clause separated from its antecedent; unattached modifier or participle. Also DANGLING MODIFIER

‘Strictly speaking, as Jesperson notes, strictly speaking is always a loose participle—perhaps if Newman had known anything at all about grammar he would avoided that ‘dangler’ for the title of his first book.’ Jim Quinn, American Tongue and Cheek”

Excerpted from: Grambs, David. The Random House Dictionary for Writers and Readers. New York: Random House, 1990.