Paraprosdokians

As editors used to say, here is an item that I received “over the transom.”

Paraprosdokians are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected, and are frequently humorous.

1. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

2. Where there’s a will, I want to be in it.

3. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it’s still on my list.

4. Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

5. If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.

6. We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

7. War does not determine who is right—only who is left.

8. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

9. I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

10. In filling out an application, where it says, ‘In case of emergency, Notify:’ I put ‘DOCTOR’.

11. 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.

12. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

13. I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not so sure.

14. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

15. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a mechanic.

16. You’re never too old to learn something stupid.

17. I’m supposed to respect my elders, but it’s getting harder and harder for me to find one now.

18. The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

19. Do not argue with an idiot; he will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

 

 

4 thoughts on “Paraprosdokians

  1. Wondering if you would let me crosspost this at Daily Kos giving you full credit, or since as you do read it you would post it there. You can let me know by return comment or email at kber at earthlink dot net – will not do so without your permission.

    • You are welcome to cross-post or re-blog anything that I post to this blog. But since this item is apparently being disseminated through e-mail and social media (it may even be elsewhere on the web–may have originated in a post on another blog), I don’t really have any personal claim on it.

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