paraprosdokian

[LukeJavan8]

This word from a couple days ago
can offer some good ones:

Do not argue with an idiot. S/he will drag you down
to his/her level and beat you with experience.
(sounds like the recent political advertisements)

Why do Americans choose from two people for any
political office, and then choose from 50 for Miss America??


The evening news is where they begin with "Good Evening",
and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.

To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism, but to
steal from many is research.

[Slava]

For those who don't subscribe, here is the Dr.'s treatment:

• paraprosdokian •

Pronunciation: pæ-rê-prahz-DOK-i-ên • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: A paraprosdokian is a phrase or sentence that leads us down the garden path to an unexpected ending. It sets us up to expect one thing but ends on a surprising semantic twist. For example, commenting on the progressive ideas of Labor Party member Sir Stafford Cripps (1889-1952), Winston Churchill once quipped: "There but for the grace of God­ - goes God."

In Play: Though many writers were good at creating paraprosdokians, few excelled Winston Churchill and Groucho Marx. Churchill once said, "You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing - ­after they have tried everything else." One of Groucho's many paraprosdokians is: "I had a wonderful evening - ­but this wasn't it." Of course, we should not forget W. C. Fields, who once quipped, " "Philadelphia, wonderful town, spent a week there one night." Still not enough paraprosdokians? Click here.

Word History: No one has written about the origin of today's Good Word, so let's start a trend. It is immediately composed of Greek para "beyond" and prosdokia "expectation". Prosdokia comprises pro and the root of dokein "to think, imagine, expect". The same root gave us the Greek words dogma and paradox, another word referring to something beyond our expectations. In Latin the same root emerged as docere "to teach" (cause to think) and went into the making of the word borrowed by English as doctor "the highest university degree". (I will resist the temptation to resort to a paraprosdokian in thanking Jackie Strauss of Philadelphia, Ruth Baldwin, who is somewhere in Germany, and Lew Jury, who is somewhere over here, for hounding me until I wrote up today's Good Word.)

[LukeJavan8]

You're so helpful.

A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in
such a way that you will look forward to the trip.

If you are supposed to learn from your mistakes,
why do some people have more than one child?

[LukeJavan8]

I want to die peacefully like my grandfather, not screaming and
yelling like the passengers in his car.

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is
not putting it in a fruit salad.

War does not determine who is right -----only who is left.

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

The early bird might get the worm, but it is the second
mouse that gets the cheese.

How is it that one careless match can start a forest fire,
but it takes a whole box of matches to start a camp fire?

[Slava]

Good ones, Luke. I especially like the tomato one. Thanks.

[misterdoe]

My favorite Groucho Marx one is: "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."

[misterdoe]

Seen on a bumper sticker: "HUG your kids at home, BELT them in the car."

[Slava]

Seen on a bumper sticker: "HUG your kids at home, BELT them in the car."

Nice find. This is a really good one, given the double entendre of the second part.

[LukeJavan8]

Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

A bus is a vehicle that runs twice as fast when you are
chasing it than when you are in it.

[misterdoe]

Dave Barry once ended an essay with, "For a long time I've wanted to tell this story very badly, and I think I have succeeded."

When you come to a fork in the road, take it!

[misterdoe]

Line from a Jack Johnson song, "At or With Me": Don't put your money where your mouth is, I don't want to see you choke.

[misterdoe]

On another board, a frequent poster and former moderator posted about her new dog. She replied to one poster who apparently lives near her with:

"You will see her! You will stroke her! You will smell."

[misterdoe]

Politicians and diapers should be changed often, and for the same reason.

[LukeJavan8]

On another board, a frequent poster and former moderator posted about her new dog. She replied to one poster who apparently lives near her with:

"You will see her! You will stroke her! You will smell."

I like that, cute.

[LukeJavan8]

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be!