# What do you call a phrase that you end in different ways in the same sentence.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-a-phrase-that-you-end-in-different-ways-in-the-same-sentence/842015>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 19, 2019, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-a-phrase-that-you-end-in-different-ways-in-the-same-sentence/842015 "2019-10-19T21:50:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-a-phrase-that-you-end-in-different-ways-in-the-same-sentence/842015/1 "2019-10-19T21:50:53Z")

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Sorry for the stupid title phrasing, If I could figure out a good way to word it, I could probably google it.

I was digging deep in my song collection and came across the old comedy classic , _Have some Madeira, my dear_

Which has line likes  
“She lowered her standards by raising her glass  
Her courage, her eyes, and his hopes”

and

“When he asked, “What in heaven?” she made no reply  
Up her mind, and a dash for the door —”

It’s driving me crazy because I know there is a name for that kind of thing but I can’t remember or find it.

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**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-a-phrase-that-you-end-in-different-ways-in-the-same-sentence/842015/2 "2019-10-19T22:02:58Z")

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[zeugma?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeugma_and_syllepsis)

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**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-a-phrase-that-you-end-in-different-ways-in-the-same-sentence/842015/3 "2019-10-19T22:40:25Z")

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Yes, thank you very much. Good thing I didn’t decide to start at the beginning of the dictionary to look for it.

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**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-a-phrase-that-you-end-in-different-ways-in-the-same-sentence/842015/4 "2019-10-19T22:44:09Z")

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I note that the Wikipedia article Aspidistra linked to actually contains the OP’s second quote as an example.

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**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2019, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-a-phrase-that-you-end-in-different-ways-in-the-same-sentence/842015/5 "2019-10-20T03:39:09Z")

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So it does!

(I actually hadn’t noticed that…)

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**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2019, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-a-phrase-that-you-end-in-different-ways-in-the-same-sentence/842015/6 "2019-10-20T04:40:05Z")

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FWIW, Groucho specialized in that device.