Pbenjay's Blog

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Wikipedia defines a paprosdokians as ” 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. “  Gail sent me an email of these clever phrases and I want to share some of them with you in this Thursday’s Top Ten.

1. Where there’s a will, I want to be in it.
2. If I agreed with you, then we’d both be wrong.
3. The last thing in the world I’d want to do is hurt you.  But it’s still on my list.
4. Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.  Intelligence is knowing not to put in the fruit bowl.
5. I thought I wanted a career.  Turns out I only wanted a paycheck.
6. I didn’t say it was your fault.  I said I was blaming you.
7. You don’t need a parachute to sky dive.  You only need a parachute to sky dive twice.
8. I used to be indecisive.  Now, I’m not so sure.
9. They begin the evening news with “Good Evening” and then proceed to tell you why it isn’t.
10. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism, but steal from many and it’s called research.