Paraproskokian - 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.[1]
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 form of syllepsis.
Examples:
"He was at his best when the going was good." —Alistair Cooke on the Duke of Windsor
"There but for the grace of God — goes God." —Winston Churchill
"If I am reading this graph correctly — I'd be very surprised." —Stephen Colbert
"You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing—after they have tried everything else." —Winston Churchill
"On his feet he wore...blisters." —Aristotle
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it." —Groucho Marx
"A modest man, who has much to be modest about." —supposedly Winston Churchill, about Clement Attlee
"She looks as though she's been poured into her clothes, and forgot to say 'when'." —P. G. Wodehouse
"I like going to the park and watching the children run around because they don't know I'm using blanks." —Emo Philips
"If I could just say a few words... I'd be a better public speaker." —Homer Simpson
"I haven't slept for ten days, because that would be too long." —Mitch Hedberg
"She was good as cooks go, and as cooks go she went." —Saki
"I sleep eight hours a day and at least ten at night." —Bill Hicks
I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you.
"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the Government take care of him; better take a closer look at the American Indian." - Henry Ford
Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges; When the Republic is at its most corrupt the laws are most numerous. - Publius Cornelius Tacitus
- He is her most vociferous critic.
- He was vociferous in his support of the proposal.
- The decision was made over their vociferous objections.
I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you.
"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the Government take care of him; better take a closer look at the American Indian." - Henry Ford
Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges; When the Republic is at its most corrupt the laws are most numerous. - Publius Cornelius Tacitus
