Paraprosdokian Explained

A paraprosdokian is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence, phrase, or larger discourse 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] such as Groucho Marx. It is synonymous with Par'hyponoian.

Etymology

"Paraprosdokian" comes from the Greek "παρά", meaning "against", and "προσδοκία", meaning "expectation".^{[2] [3]} The noun "prosdokia" occurs with the preposition "para" in Greek rhetorical writers of the 1st century BCE and the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, with the meaning "contrary to expectation" or "unexpectedly."^{[4] [5] [6] [7]} These four sources are cited under "prosdokia" in Liddell-Scott-Jones, Greek Lexicon.^[8]

While the word is now in wide circulation, "paraprosdokian" (or "paraprosdokia") is not a term of classical (or medieval) Greek or Latin rhetoric; it was first attested in 1896.^[9]

Double meaning

Some paraprosdokians do not only change the meaning of an early phrase, as in garden-path sentence, but they also play on the double meaning of a particular word, creating a form of syllepsis or antanaclasis (a type of pun).

For example, in response to the question "how are you two?", a Modern Hebrew speaker can say Hebrew: בסדר גמור; היא בסדר, אני גמור (be-séder gamúr; i be-séder, aní gamúr), literally "in-order complete; she in-order, I complete", i.e., "We are very good. She is good, I am finished".^[10] Note the ambiguity of the Hebrew lexical item גמור gamúr: it means both "complete" and "finished".^[10] A parallel punning paraprosdokian in English is a man's response to a friend's question "Why are you and your wife here?: A 'workshop; I am working, she is shopping."^[10]

Examples

• "Take my wife—please!" —Henny Youngman^{[11] [12]}
• "If I could just say a few words … I'd be a better public speaker." —Homer Simpson^[13]
• "If I am reading this graph correctly—I'd be very surprised." —Stephen Colbert^[14]
• "If all the girls attending the Yale prom were laid end to end, I wouldn't be a bit surprised." —Dorothy Parker^{[15] [16]}
• "On his feet he wore … blisters." —Aristotle^[17]
• "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it." —Groucho Marx^{[18] [19] [20]}
• "To wives and sweethearts! May they never meet." — Traditional toast made by Royal Navy officers.^[21]
• "My uncle's dying wish was to have me sit in his lap; he was in the electric chair." —Rodney Dangerfield^[22]
• "I like going to the park and watching the children run around because they don't know I'm using blanks." —Emo Philips
• "I haven't slept for ten days, because that would be too long." —Mitch Hedberg^[23]
• "I sleep eight hours a day and at least ten at night." —Bill Hicks^{[24] [25]}
• "I don't belong to an organized political party. I'm a Democrat." —Will Rogers^[26]
• "On the other hand, you have different fingers." —Steven Wright^[11]
• "Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read." —Jim Brewer, sometimes attributed to Groucho Marx^{[27] [28]}

See also

• Garden-path sentence
• List of linguistic example sentences
• One-line joke
• Pun

Notes and References

1. Web site: A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples . 2010-10-14 . 2004-12-22. Scaife, Ross . Ament, Ernest. University of Kentucky, Wayne State University. Lexington.
2. Book: Ph.D, Rod L. Evans. Tyrannosaurus Lex: The Marvelous Book of Palindromes, Anagrams, and Other Delightful and Outrageous Wordplay . 2012-06-05. Penguin . 978-1-101-58863-5. en.
3. Web site: 2014-05-18. Paraprosdokian - Definition and Examples of Paraprosdokian. 2021-08-31. Literary Devices . en-US.
4. Book: Demetrius On Style, The Greek text of Demetrius De Elocutione . Demetrius of Phalerum . Demetrius . Roberts, W. Ryhs . . para. 153 . 978-1-113-67981-9.
5. Book: On Method of Forceful Speaking . Hermogenes of Tarsus . Hermogenes . 34. On Speaking in Comic Style . 2005 . Invention and Method . . 978-1-58983-121-6.
6. Book: De Figuris . Tiberius (Rhetor.) . Latin . . para. 16 . 978-1-141-72928-9.
7. Book: On Choices and Avoidances . Philodemus . Philodemus . Italian . Giovanni . Indelli . Voula . Tsouna-McKirahan . Bibliopolis . para. 19 .
8. Book: Liddell-Scott-Jones . A Greek-English Lexicon. 1958. Oxford. 1507.
9. Web site: Casselman . Bill . The Bogus Word Paraprosdokian (and Lazy Con-Men of Academe) . https://web.archive.org/web/20160525222856/http://www.billcasselman.com/unpub_2011/paraprosdokian_bogus_word.htm. 2016-05-25. The Perils of Rhetorical Nomenclature . Casselmania: McArthur & Co. . Toronto . 2011-01-03.
10. Book: Zuckermann, Ghil'ad . Ghil'ad Zuckermann . Revivalistics: From the Genesis of Israeli to Language Reclamation in Australia and Beyond . Oxford University Press . New York. 2020. 9780199812790.
11. Web site: Paraprosdokians . Away With Words . 2012-02-09 . 2017-07-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150228074829/https://wordoriginsblog.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/paraprosdokians/ . 2015-02-28 . live .
12. Web site: Gottesman . Kyra . It's a figure of speech Off the Record . Chico Enterprise-Record . 9 August 2020 . 15 June 2019.
13. Book: Howard , Gregory . Dictionary of Rhetorical Terms. 978-1-4500-2029-9. Xlibris. 151. 2010-01-11.
14. Book: Mills , Michael . Concise Handbook of Literary and Rhetorical Terms. 978-0-615-27136-1. 2010. Estep-Nicoles Publishing.
15. Book: Norwich . John Julius . The Ultimate Christmas Cracker . 2019 . John Murray Press . 978-1-5293-2491-4 . en.
16. Web site: Frizzelle . Christopher . Happy Birthday, Dorothy Parker . The Stranger . 9 August 2020 . 22 August 2019 . en.
17. Book: A companion to rhetoric and rhetorical criticism. Walter. Jost. Wendy. Olmsted. 277. Wiley-Blackwell. 978-1-4051-0112-7. 2012-02-12. 2004-02-23.
18. Figaro and paraprosdokian. Journal of Medical Speech – Language Pathology. September 2009. Leonard L.. LaPointe. https://web.archive.org/web/20110109061130/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb1397/is_3_17/ai_n45060415/. 2011-01-09.
19. Book: Leighton. H. Vernon. 2020. A Theory of Humor (Abridged) and the Comic Mechanisms of John Kennedy Toole’s ‘’A Confederacy of Dunces’’. Marsh. Leslie. Theology and Geometry: Essays on John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces (Politics, Literature, & Film). United Kingdom. Lexington Books. 29 January 2020. 2–4. 978-1-4985-8547-7. 27 March 2020. it is useful to examine the famous paraprosdokian, ‘I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn’t it.’ … Within the cognitive incongruity aspect of humor … Comedians often rely on shared knowledge with the audience to provide the second interpretation toward which the joke will pivot … As the paraprosdokian above illustrates, in some humor events, the brain begins tentatively to assign the event of one interpretation but then is forced in surprise to reassign the event to a second interpretation..
20. Web site: Bradley . Patricia . What Do You Do With A Paraprosdokian? . Learn How to Write a Novel . 9 August 2020 . September 3, 2019.
21. Web site: 'Our wives and sweethearts' Naval toast rewritten . BBC News . 24 May 2024 . 22 June 2013.
22. Web site: Baumann . Jim . Grammar Moses: It's not a pickup line, it's a paraprosdokian . Daily Herald . 9 August 2020 . 28 March 2020.
23. Web site: Eric . Zorn . Fine Lines: Mitch Hedberg . . April 4, 2005 . January 22, 2016.
24. Web site: Lundin. Leigh. Paraprosdokia. Criminal Brief . The A.D.D. Detective . 2011-01-30. 2011-03-06.
25. Web site: List of 20 Paraprosdokians: Sentences with a twist . India Today . 9 August 2020 . New Delhi . en . August 17, 2016.
26. Web site: Paraprosdokia. Andrews. Dale C. . April 24, 2012. Sleuthsayers . July 22, 2012.
27. Web site: O'Toole . Garson . Quote Investigator . Outside of a Dog, a Book is Man's Best Friend. Inside of a Dog, It's Too Dark to Read . 9 August 2020 . 2010-09-08.
28. Book: O'Toole . Garson . Hemingway Didn't Say That: The Truth Behind Familiar Quotations . 2017 . Amazon Publishing . 978-1-5039-3340-8 . en.