Writers Tricks of the Trade VOLUME 10 ISSUE 1 | Page 19

W HAT THE H ECK ARE P ARAPROSDOKIANS ?
F IRST TIME I HEARD THE WORD “ PARAPROSDOKIAN ,” I LIKED IT . O NE OF THOSE FUNKY WORDS THAT HAS
EVERYONE SCRATCHING THEIR HEAD TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE MEANING . I T SOUNDS SCIENTIFIC , OR OTHER -
WORLDLY . S O , WHAT THE HECK IS A PARAPROSDOKIAN ? W OULD YOU BELIEVE THIS HIGH - FALUTIN ’ WORD REFERS
TO FIGURES OF SPEECH IN WHICH THE LATTER PART OF A SENTENCE OR PHRASE IS SURPRISING OR UNEXPECTED AND
IS FREQUENTLY HUMOROUS . (S IR W INSTON C HURCHILL LOVED THEM ). A S FOR ME , I LIKE #3 AND #11.
8. To steal ideas from one person is
plagiarism. To steal from many is
research.
C URIOUS ? H ERE ARE A FEW :
1. Where there's a will, I want to be in it.
2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you
—but it's still on my list.
3. Since light travels faster than sound,
some people appear bright until you hear
them speak.
4. If I agreed with you, we'd both be
wrong.
5. We never really grow up -- we only
learn how to act in public.
6. War does not determine who is right,
only who is left.
7. Knowledge, is knowing a tomato is a
fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit
salad.
W INTER 2020
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 an emergency, notify—" I
answered "a 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, but now I'm
not so sure.
P AGE 14
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE