Definitions
Wiktionary
- n. Figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently used in a humorous situation.
Etymologies
- From Ancient Greek παρά (para, "against") + προσδοκία (prosdokia, "expectation"). (Wiktionary)
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 or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part.”
The Huffington Post: John Fox: You're Never Too Old to Learn Something Stupid
“[_A "paraprosdokian," which delights him to the point of repetition.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘paraprosdokian’.
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nouns
enfleurage, fautor, mafia, haslet, chopine, sea-gate, cantillation, formicary, go-devil, Gongorism, mamzer, mazarine and 147 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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Ar!
ar, Ar, argon, are, area, arf, arc, ark, aardwolf, aardvark, aardcucumber, yardarm and 253 more...
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Rhetorical Devices
trope, wellerism, antimetabole, syncope, open-list, accismus, abating, abbaser, abecedarian, abcisio, ablatio, abominatio and 425 more...
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LIT - stylistic schemes & rhetorical ...
polyptoton, polysyndeton, aureation, pleonasm, anacoluthon, anadiplosis, anaphora, anastrophe, antistrophe, antithesis, aporia, aposiopesis and 34 more...
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simply silly and oft ludicrous
words that amuse, are not (yet?) real or simply tickle you in a strange way
nincompoop, funemployed, phantasmagoria, flabbergast, hippopotomonstros..., nurdle, nitwit, staccato brain fa..., synapse epilepsy, inconceivable, inconceivable, paraprosdokian and 1 more...
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difficult words
ordure, tatterwallop, callipygian, odious, colophon, cynosure, hardener, emollience, valetudinarian, demonym, volage, polysemantic and 283 more...
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Twitter favorites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
unfathomably, glice, cuh, fab, ciggaty, doll, thuggin, oxymoronic, pineapple, succubutt, griming, cheeky and 3063 more... -
Mat8iou's interesting words
Words I've come across & want to remember.
bloviation, elginism, panegyric, infandous, boke, pangram, quine, pareto principle, panopticon, snib, escutcheon, bokeh and 129 more...
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Logodaedalus' Lexical Locutionary
Discombobulating the illiterate since the middle of the last century.
adiaphora, agitprop, alliteration, apophthegm, autarky, bête noire, bezoar, biorhythm, braggadocio, canaille, confabulate, confrère and 339 more...
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good ones
grumble, fumble, bumble, stumble, crumble, mumble, jumble, humble, bramble, scramble, amble, ramble and 191 more...
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It Has a Name??
Yes. Yes it does.
aglet, armsaye, scroop, rowel, ferrule, rasceta, chanking, philtrum, frenulum, keeper, agelast, punt and 285 more...
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Way Off the Beaten Path
Words found in published word lists but not defined here.
vespertilionize, cunctitenant, advesperate, aeolistic, lalochezia, elozable, paraprosdokian, acnestis
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NeoVolt's Words
schadenfreude, serendipity, idiosyncrasy, loess, caducous, vagary, schematic, steeple, licentious, tangential, verisimilitude, vernacular and 385 more...
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The Collection
A somewhat discriminatory list of words and phrases collected for their euphonic or arcane appeal, interesting etymology, or concise definition of an otherwise unnamed phenomenon or concept.
ziggurat, neophilia, sucker punch, soporific, epoch, tundra, fiat, idiotproof, miscellany, metaphysics, cryptozoology, dysphoria and 856 more...
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the omnibus
preponderance, idioglossia, acumen, heteronym, flux, anacoluthon, metonymy, impetus, constellation, exegesis, revelatory, cloistered and 877 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for paraprosdokian.
kirinqueen A garden path sentence that messes with expected word senses (semantics) instead of syntactic relations. One of my favorites: "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate." Jun 11, 2010
xntrek (n.) A paraprosdokian is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected causing one to reframe or reinterpret the first part.
An especially clever paraprosdokian not only changes the meaning of an early phrase, but also plays on the double meaning of a particular word, creating a syllepsis.
(etymology) from Greek "πα�?α-", meaning "beyond" and "π�?οσδοκία", meaning "expectation"
(examples)
"I belong to no organized party. I am a Democrat." — Will Rogers
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it." — Groucho Marx
"I want to die like my father, quietly, in his sleep—not screaming and terrified like his passengers." — Bob Monkhouse
"I like going to the park and watching the children run and jump around, because you see, they don't know I'm using blanks." — Emo Philips May 21, 2009