Posted on 01/25/2016 6:00:29 AM PST by SoothingDave
Word For The Day, Monday January 25, 2015
In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day".
Paraprosdokian
-n
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.
["Paraprosdokian" comes from the Greek "παÏά", meaning "against" and "Ï€Ïοσδοκία", meaning "expectation". The term "prosdokia" ("expectation") 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."]
Figured I’d post today, since xs had a long drive back yesterday.
Huh? Are you saying what I think your saying?
Depends on what you think I’m saying.
To be or not to be—I can’t remember my cousin’s apartment number.
I have often used a Paraprosdokian when one prosdokian didn’t seem like enough.
I’ll be sure to use the word next time I speak to a Greek.
Is this the same word as araprosdokian? I posted this last Wednesday:
Winston Churchill loved araprosdokians, figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is…surprising or unexpected.
1. Where there’s a will, I want to be in it.
2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it’s still on my list.
3. Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
4. If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.
5. War does not determine who is right - only who is left.
6. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
7. They begin the evening news with ‘Good Evening,’ then proceed to tell you why it isn’t.
8. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.
9. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out, I just wanted pay checks.
10. In filling out an application, where it says, ‘In case of emergency, notify:’ I put “DOCTOR.”
11. I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
12. 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.
13. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.
14. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.
15. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.
16. Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.
17. There’s a fine line between cuddling and... holding someone down so they can’t get away.
18. I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not so sure.
19. You’re never too old to learn something stupid.
20. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.
21. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.
22. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
23. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
Finally:
24. I’m supposed to respect my elders, but now it’s getting harder and harder for me to find one.
Thank you!! Was out shoveling !
Google suggests that you mean “paraprosdokian.”
Don’t know.
Thank you for the word!
Both basketball players were pretty good at getting baskets in close ...
Yes, they were a paraprosdunkians.
Oh did they make it home? I didn’t text with her last night - I hope they did
I love those - very funny!
Oh good - glad you are home. How bad was the drive?
Drive was a breeze. 14 hours 1000 miles not even a smidge of snow until the VA line. Beltway and routes 50 and 29 were a little dicey but our streets were all plowed. Our driveway was not, obviously, but our two neighbors to the left are doctors and they had had their driveways plowed. It made more sense to walk up theirs and then crawl through hip deep snow across to our garage door (wearing leggings tennis shoes and no gloves). We shoveled a single shovel wide path that same route back to neighbor’s driveway to be able to haul our bags up. A random guy with a shovel walked up this AM looking for work so xshub engaged him. Within a half hour he Asher if he could get some guys to help. 5 guys two hours $200 and our driveway is down to the bare pavement. They dug out xs boys vehicle also.
That had to be so weird getting home and not being able to get up to your door! lol Friends in pa sent pics of their shoveling and we could see our former home - looked so odd - but the snow was deep there!
yes, it looked pretty insurmountable because of the depth of the snow even if i HAD been dressed appropriately. luckily i took my lightweight puffy coat stuffed it in the suitcase last minute bc i needed it!
OMG xsteen just sent me a heartbreaking article about a guy shoveling out his car on the roadway with his wife and two little kids in the car, and bc the tailpipe was blocked bu snow the woman and one of the kids died from carbon monoxide poisoning and the other little girl is fighting for her life and not likely to make it. that poor man!!
i think i told you we saw 13 hours last week and really enjoyed it. The guy who played the “chief”, the head honcho of the secret operation who would not give the go ahead to the special ops guys, was very hateable. We saw in the newsletter this past week that the actor playing that character graduated from Gonzaga back in the 80s!
Saw that, but there was a worse story, too. A guy who was digging his car out, apparently, got inside the car while it was running. Then a plow buried him so he couldn’t get out. And blocked his exhaust pipe. He suffocated.
Another person came out later to shovel his car out and found the car running.
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