Paraprosdokian: Difference between revisions
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* "There but for the grace of God—goes God." —[[Winston Churchill]]<ref name="glossary"/> |
* "There but for the grace of God—goes God." —[[Winston Churchill]]<ref name="glossary"/> |
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* "I haven't slept for two weeks, because that would be too long." —[[Mitch Hedberg]]<ref name="glossary"/> |
* "I haven't slept for two weeks, because that would be too long." —[[Mitch Hedberg]]<ref name="glossary"/> |
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* "The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list." —[[Ajit Priyam]] |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Revision as of 09:26, 29 January 2011
A paraprosdokian (from Greek "παρα-", meaning "beyond" and "προσδοκία", meaning "expectation") is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part. It is frequently used for humorous or dramatic effect, sometimes producing an anticlimax. For this reason, it is extremely popular among comedians and satirists.
Some paraprosdokians not only change the meaning of an early phrase, but they also play on the double meaning of a particular word, creating a syllepsis.
Examples
- "If I could say a few words, I'd be a better public speaker." —Homer Simpson[1]
- "If I am reading this graph correctly—I'd be very surprised." —Stephen Colbert[2]
- "You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing—after they have tried everything else." —Winston Churchill[2]
- "If all the girls who attended the Yale prom were laid end to end, I wouldn't be a bit surprised." — Dorothy Parker[2]
- "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it." —Groucho Marx[3]
- "A modest man, who has much to be modest about." —Winston Churchill[3]
- "She looks as though she's been poured into her clothes, and forgot to say when." —P. G. Wodehouse[3]
- "I like going to the park and watching the children run around because they don't know I'm using blanks." —Emo Phillips[3]
- "He was at his best when the going was good." —Alistair Cooke on the Duke of Windsor[4]
- "There but for the grace of God—goes God." —Winston Churchill[4]
- "I haven't slept for two weeks, because that would be too long." —Mitch Hedberg[4]
- "The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list." —Ajit Priyam
See also
Look up paraprosdokian in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
References
- ^ Howard, Gregory. Dictionary of Rhetorical Terms. Xlibris. p. 151. ISBN 9781450020299.
- ^ a b c Mills, Michael (2010). Concise Handbook of Literary and Rhetorical Terms. Estep-Nicoles Publishing. ISBN 9780615271361. Cite error: The named reference "concise" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b c d
LaPointe, Leonard L. (09-2009). "Figaro and paraprosdokian". Journal of Medical Speech - Language Pathology.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c "A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples". Retrieved 2010-10-14.