Emo Philips - master of paraprosdokian
Paraprosdokian - (from Greek: “para” meaning “beyond” and “prosdokian” meaning “expectation”) a figure of speech, often utilized in humor, in which a sentence or phrase ends in an unexpected in a way, causing one to reinterpret the first part. I’m quite fond of using these, myself.
Here are some well-known examples:
- “Take my wife, please.” — Henny Youngman
- “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” — Groucho Marx
- “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the precipitate.” — Henry J. Tillman
- “I like going to the park and watching the children run and jump around, because you see, they don’t know I’m using blanks.” — Emo Philips
- “I went to a restaurant that serves ‘breakfast at any time.’ So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance. — Steven Wright
- “I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to, too.” — Mitch Hedberg
- “I belong to no organized party. I am a Democrat.” — Will Rogers
- “If I am reading this graph correctly, I would be very surprised.” — Stephen Colbert
- “If I could say a few words, I would be a better public speaker.” — Homer Simpson
- “It’s too bad that whole families have to be torn apart by something as simple as wild dogs.” — Jack Handey
Well… on American English, anyway.
Speciality? Aluminium? Can I get a Amen (or at least a cheeseburger)?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1284254/Britain-declares-war-words-snuck-skedule-.html
I found this article on language independence to be rather interesting. Have a read, if that sort of thing is your cup of tea.
Impecunious \im-pih-KYOO-nee-uhs\ - not having money; poor; broke
Sesquipedalian /ˌsɛs
kwɪpɪˈdeɪliən, -ˈdeɪlyən/ – given to or characterized by the use of long words
A big word that means “big word.” I love language.
Paralepsis /ˌpærəˈlɛpsɪs/ – the suggestion, by deliberately concise treatment of a topic, that much of significance is being omitted, as in “not to mention other faults.” From the Ancient Greek παράλειψις, meaning “omission.” Also spelled paraleipsis or paralipsis.
Here’s a real-life example of political paralepsis wherein then-candidate Barack Obama addressed Hillary Clinton’s suggestion that he (Obama) was unelectable:
“And this argument is being pushed, by the way, by a candidate who starts off with a 47% disapproval rating. You know, so, I’m not going to mention names, but I mean the notion that a viability or an electability argument is being made by somebody who starts off with almost half the country not being able to vote for (pause and laughter) them doesn’t make sense.”
Cracked did a great article on words that don’t mean what most people think they mean. As usual, funny but true.
http://www.cracked.com/article_15664_9-words-that-dont-mean-what-you-think.html
pleonasm /ˈpliəˌnæzəm/ – the use of more words than are necessary to express an idea; redundancy; tautology
Examples: true fact, tuna fish, ATM machine, 2 a.m. in the morning, redundant pleonasm
(Yes, I know I said it was going to be foreign words, but it’s my website and I can do whatever I want. So there.)
pleonasm
今日は、世界！
マイケル・ハッカーと申します。多言語を通じる人です。主に英語、仏語、露語、と日本語が出来ます。独語も西語も勉強中ですし。以前身につけた外国語のお陰で、アラゴネス語、白ロシア語、ブルガリア語、中国語、チェコ語、エスペラント語、イタリア語、韓国語、マケドニア語、ルーマニア語、ポーランド語、スコットランド語、スロバキア語、セルビア語、スペイン語、ウクライナ語など、２０カ国語ほど少しでも読み取ることが出来ます。
Привет, Мир!
Меня зовут Миша Хакэр. Я полиглот. Мои основные Языки являются Английским, Французким, Русским, и Японским. Теперь изучаю Немецкий и Испанский языка. Я тоже могу понимать чуть-чуть на около 20 языков. Например: Арагонский, Белорусский, Болгарский, Китайский, Чешский, Эсперанто, Итальянский, Корейский, Македонский, Румынский, Польский, Шотландский, Словацкий, Сербском, Испанском, и Украинском.
Bonjour, Tout le Monde!
Je m’apelle Michel Hacker. Je suis un polyglotte. Mes langues principales sont Anglais, Français, Russe et Japonais. Je suis également en train d’étudier l’Allemand et l’Espagnol. En raison des langues que j’ai apprises antérieurement, j’ai aussi constaté que je peux lire des morceaux de moins de 20 langues différentes. Pour exemples: l’Aragonés, le Biélorusse, Bulgare, Chinois, Tchèque, Espéranto, Italien, Coréen, Macédonien, Roumain, Polonais, Écossais, Slovensk, Serbe, Espagnol et Ukrainien.
Hello, World!
My name is Michael Hacker. I am a polyglot. My main languages are English, French, Russian, and Japanese. I am also currently studying German and Spanish. Because of the languages I have previously learned, I have also found that I can read bits of as many as 20 different languages. For examples: Aragonés, Belorussian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Czech, Esperanto, Italian, Korean, Macedonian, Romanian, Polish, Scots, Slovensk, Serb, Spanish, and Ukranian
