Paraprosdokian

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A paraprosdokian is a phrase whose ending is surprising or unexpected, so that the reader or listener has to rethink and rearrange the beginning. This often creates a humorous, satirical or dramatic effect.

etymology

"Paraprosdokian" comes from the Greek language and is made up of " para " (against) and "prosdokian" (expectation) , which means "against expectation".

Examples

  • "I had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx
  • " You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else." - Winston Churchill . " You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else."
  • " If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong."

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Glossary of Rhetorical Terms on the UK College of Arts and Sciences website
  2. ↑ a b c Dale C. Andrews: Paraprosdokia on SleuthSayers.com (English)
  3. ^ Leonard L. LaPointe: Figaro and paraprosdokian . Journal of Medical Speech - Language Pathology. September 2009 (english)