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.