paraprosdokian

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Pronunciation

/ˌpærəprɒsˈdəʊkiən/(par-uh-pros-DOH-kee-un)

Part of speech

nounformal

Chinese

出人意料的结尾（修辞手法）

Definition

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 reframe the first part.

Word family

  • (no common derivatives)

Collocations

  • classic paraprosdokian
  • comic paraprosdokian
  • Groucho Marx paraprosdokian

Examples

  1. 1."I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it" (Groucho Marx) is a classic paraprosdokian. (surprising twist)
  2. 2."Where there's a will, I want to be in it" turns a proverb into a paraprosdokian. (unexpected ending)

Synonyms

  • (no direct synonym — a specific rhetorical term)

Etymology

from Greek "para-" (against) + "prosdokia" (expectation) — against what was expected — a twist that defies anticipation