paraprosdokian

[Audiendus]

Democracy is the worst form of government - except for all the others. [Winston Churchill]

I have a soft spot for politicians - a bog in the west of Ireland. [Dave Allen, the Irish comedian]

He went to a good school - it was approved. [Old British joke]

This autobiography is incredibly good - it's a pack of lies.

If you read the Bible, God helps you. If you don't, God help you.

[LukeJavan8]

You're never to old to learn something stupid.

[MTC]

One of mine: "He inherited his brains from his father--in formaldehyde." (re Glen Beck)

[misterdoe]

From a recent email from StrangeCosmos.com: "Don't hit a man with glasses -- hit him with a baseball bat."

[LukeJavan8]

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where
a train stops. My desk is a work station.

[Stargzer]

I recently found an example of this Good Word in use:

Emo Philips (born February 7, 1956 as Phil Soltanec) is an American entertainer and comedian born in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove. Much of his standup comedy stems from the use of paraprosdokians and garden path sentences spoken in a wandering falsetto tone of voice and a confused, childlike delivery of his material to produce the intended comic timing in a manner invoking the 'wisdom of children' or the idiot savant. ...

For those enamored of his humor there's a link to Wikiquote with a collection of Philips' quotes, including one about two Baptists that I heard long ago but whose source I didn't know. I swear though that when I heard it, it was about two Civil War soldiers, Yankee and Confederate, arguing at the edge of a cliff. Either way it had the same punch line. Follow the link to his web site to find the earliest Emo Philips film, from 1983.

[LukeJavan8]

One of mine: "He inherited his brains from his father--in formaldehyde." (re Glen Beck)

Somehow missed this: I really like it, hope it is not
copyrighted, as I'd like to use it.

(Did it originate with Beck, or is it a reference to him
{"re"})?

[Slava]

One of mine: "He inherited his brains from his father--in formaldehyde." (re Glen Beck)

Somehow missed this: I really like it, hope it is not
copyrighted, as I'd like to use it.

(Did it originate with Beck, or is it a reference to him
{"re"})?

I just tried Yahoo and Google, and neither one has a reference to it. Except that Google does show this post.

[LukeJavan8]

Perhaps MTC is just referring to Beck.
I am not in much love with that commentator myself.
Not to get into arguments over politics, but once
he castigated offenders when on another network,
and showed over and over the ovens Hitler used to
eliminate people he did not like. That totally turned
me off. He has his opinion, and I have the right to
not watch nor listen to him.

[misterdoe]

Alec Baldwin, in a 30 Rock promo: "I got to witness the birth of a foal. It was delicious..."

[bamaboy56]

One of my favorites from Groucho:
Groucho (to woman): I need to speak to your husband. I'll go get him.
Woman: My husband's dead.
Groucho: Oh, in that case YOU go get him.
Cant' remember which movie that came from.

[LukeJavan8]

Whenever I fill out a form, in the part that says:
, "In case of emergency, notify...." I put: DOCTOR.

[Slava]

For more on this GWoTD, here's the take from Quinion's World Wide Words: http://www.worldwidewords.org/nl/fnwb.htm#N2

[LukeJavan8]

It is a rather difficult word to pronounce, when and if
it ever enters the dictionary and after a century or
more of use, it will probably evolve into something else.

[misterdoe]

From comedian and college professor (!) Yakov Smirnoff, to Johnny Carson: "I enjoy being in America: it's fun, you know, because you have so many things we never had in Russia — like warning shots."