Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Paraprosdokian ~ with examples

A paraprosdokian 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 to reinterpret the first part.  Here are some examples:

  • I'm great at multitasking — I can waste time, procrastinate, and be unproductive simultaneously.
  • Did you ever stop to think and forget to start again?
  • Buses stop at bus stations.  Trains stop at train stations.  My desk is a work station.
  • They begin the evening news with "Good evening," then proceed to tell us why it isn’t.
  • Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
  • The car stopped on a dime, which unfortunately was in a pedestrian's pocket.
  • Hospitality is making your guests feel like they’re at home, even if you wish they were.
  • Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
  • I thought I wanted a career, but it turns out I just wanted paychecks.
  • War does not determine who is right, only who is left.
  • He who laughs last thinks slowest.
  • Do you like a play on words . . . or on a stage?
  • I know karate and maybe two other Japanese words.
  • Why do voters in the United States choose between two people running for president but have fifty running for Miss America?
  • If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.
  • If you are supposed to learn from your mistakes, why do some people have more than one child?
  • A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
  • I'm supposed to respect my elders, but now it’s getting harder and harder for me to find one.
  • The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on the list.



Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share words we have encountered in our reading.  The word that intrigued me this week was paraprosdokian.

1 comment:

Elza Reads said...

Hi there Bonnie! What a lovely post! So many fun antidotes in here. Loved it! Thanks so much for taking part in WWW!

Almost weekend, hope you will have a good one.

Mareli & Elza