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November 10, 2010
Paraprosdokians
What is a Paraprosdokian? According to the Wikipedia entry, it 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.
Come to think of it one of my favorite jokes fits the description:
There are three kinds of people in the world: those who are good at math and those who aren't.
Anyway, here's a nice collection of them. (Morbid as it is, I like #3 a lot.) Not to mention a Facebook page.
Posted by SoccerDad at November 10, 2010 3:12 AM
Happier times for Happy Meals?
Mediterranean conference cancelled on account of cooties
The day the anniversary died
Submitted 11/11/2010
Peace - it's not what might have but what couldn't have been
Taking a shyne to judaism
But sunnis would never side with shi'ites ...
Beer : civilization :: whiskey : american politics
Of pleiades and potter
Paraprosdokians
I love paraprosdokians, even if they are the broadest of figures of speech. I'm particularly fond of #10 in your linked list, a good working distinction between wisdom and knowledge.
If you ramble down this road a bit further, you'll stumble across "garden path sentences" and things can get really interesting.
Posted by: Eric at November 10, 2010 10:27 AM(Aren't the Paraprosdokians the Armenian brothers who own the mechanic shop where I take my car?} An interesting thing about #3 is that it is the first example of a para-whatsis which involves a reinterpretation of the beginning. I guess many of the others are the kind in which you "reframe" the beginning.
Posted by: Yitzchak Goodman at November 13, 2010 11:48 PM