# Paraprosdokian **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 20, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162 "2012-01-20T19:35:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/1 "2012-01-20T19:35:50Z")
I just got an email with this title and nothing else. So I looked it up and found [Paraprosdokian - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraprosdokian) and thought it might make for a fun topic to add examples to. Make up some if you have to. How often do you run into such things? Were you familiar with the term before this? ---
**Author:** ![Haunted\_Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@Haunted\_Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted_Pasta)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/2 "2012-01-20T19:59:29Z")
Jonathan Katz, on a relative who died: “She was cremated. We think that’s what did it.” Emo Philips, on going into comedy as a profession: “I thought, if I can make even just one person laugh… I’ll already be doing better than Tony Danza.” Me, to various people at various times, about various movies: “I saw (whatever movie) this weekend. If you get a chance to see it, don’t.” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/3 "2012-01-20T20:43:06Z")
Have you been working out? You’re really strong… smelling. There was a comedianne whose act was pretty much nothing but these. Pretty funny, but enough was too much. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/4 "2012-01-20T21:16:16Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Have you been working out? You’re really strong… smelling. > > There was a comedianne whose act was pretty much nothing but these. Pretty funny, but enough was too much. I do know what you mean. Another category that Groucho almost beat to death is [Zeugma – especially Syllepsis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeugma) ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/5 "2012-01-20T21:23:29Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > I do know what you mean. Another category that Groucho almost beat to death is [Zeugma – especially Syllepsis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeugma) Very true. Entertainers who build their whole routine around one figure of speech … shouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/6 "2012-01-20T21:26:40Z")
Tom Lehrer: “His educational career began interestingly enough in agricultural school, where he majored in animal husbandry, until they caught him at it one day.” ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/7 "2012-01-20T21:30:54Z")
[offtopic – some] When I got that email with nothing but the word as text and title, my first thought was that there was some new family in Hollywood I was going to have to learn to loathe. [/offtopic] ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/8 "2012-01-20T23:11:25Z")
The classic example is “Take my wife. Please.” (Henny Youngman) ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/9 "2012-01-20T23:40:33Z")
There’s the classic Douglas Adams “The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t.” But how about the opposite of the phenomenon - where you’re expecting paraprosdokian because of the context, but nothing comes. The only example of the phenomenon I can think of is the Northern Irish comedian Kevin McAleer, who did this to great - delayed - effect when he said: I won’t say my aunt was fat, but she’s the only woman I know. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/10 "2012-01-21T00:04:38Z")
“It’s a good thing I don’t like spinach, because if I did I’d have to eat it, and I can’t stand the stuff.” – Pierrot le Fou “The reason why you do not see much scoring is if you are a true soccer fan you would enjoy every move and counter move and the strategy - not the scoring - I am not a fan.” – anonymous internet being" “We are made of dreams and dreams are made of us.” – Pierrot le Fou . ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/11 "2012-01-21T00:22:41Z")
I read about paraprosdokian only the other day, having never heard of it before. I was going to say this is an example of the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, but then I remembered that I read about it on [World Wide Words](http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-par5.htm), and on looking up the page I see it was only posted 6 days ago. So I guess that’s the explanation for the sudden interest. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/12 "2012-01-21T00:52:53Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Have you been working out? You’re really strong… smelling. > > There was a comedianne whose act was pretty much nothing but these. Pretty funny, but enough was too much. That would be [Wendy Liebman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofNvf-BnP14#t=0m45s). ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/13 "2012-01-21T01:21:27Z")
I never drink … wine. /Bela Lugosi ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/14 "2012-01-21T01:25:09Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I won’t say my aunt was fat, but she’s the only woman I know. Why on earth is this making me laugh? Strange… ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/15 "2012-01-21T01:53:56Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Why on earth is this making me laugh? Strange… Because it’s thwarting your expectation of having your expectation thwarted. You, of all people, probably should have expected that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/16 "2012-01-21T05:14:58Z")
Another Emo Phillips: My brother says “hello”… so hooray for speech therapy! ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/17 "2012-01-21T05:22:15Z")
One from Mitch “I used to do drugs…I still do, but I used to too” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/18 "2012-01-21T06:39:17Z")
Elvis Costello in the song “Alison”: _“I don’t know if she’s been loving somebody…I only know it isn’t mine.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/19 "2012-01-21T06:40:16Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Tom Lehrer: “His educational career began interestingly enough in agricultural school, where he majored in animal husbandry, until they caught him at it one day.” Another Lehrism: “Of all the songs I sing, this is the one I get the most requests not to.” [QUOTE=example from that Wiki article] “If all the girls who attended the Yale prom were laid end to end, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised.” —Dorothy Parker [/quote] Or: If all the virgins in the world were laid end to end, there wouldn’t be any more. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162/20 "2012-01-21T06:59:02Z")
Buckaroo Banzai: Don’t be mean; we don’t have to be mean, cuz, remember, no matter where you go, there you are. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraprosdokian/610162.md?page=2)