Recently I attended my family reunion. we were all talking about my Aunt Bobbie who recently lost her battle with cancer. Bobbie was famous in our family for creating her own take on famous phrases, such as the fruit doesn’t fall far from the stump. We then realized that many of us do the same thing. I came across
PARAPROSDOKIANS which reminded me of my dear Aunt Bobbie and thought I would share these.
PARAPROSDOKIANS
(Winston Churchill loved them.)
Here is the definition: “A figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently used in a humorous situation.”
“Where there’s a will, I want to be in it,” is a type of paraprosdokian.
1. Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it’s still on my list.
3. Light travels faster than sound. This is why 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.
8. Evening news is where they begin with ‘Good Evening,’ and then proceed to tell you why it isn’t.
9. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.
10. A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.
11. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paychecks.
12. Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says, ‘In case of emergency, notify:’ I put ‘DOCTOR.’
13. I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
14. 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.
15. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.
16. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.
17. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.
18. Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.
19. There’s a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can’t get away.
20. I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not so sure.
21. You’re never too old to learn something stupid.
22. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.
23. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.
24. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
25. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
26. Where there’s a will, there’s relatives.
Have a super great weekend.
Love them all. Thank you for sharing.
so sorry to hear about your aunt bobbie. she sounds like a character. i just asked pete if he'd ever heard of a paraprosdokian and he thought it was some type of greek food. thanks to you and your aunt for educating us! have a great weekend.
Thank you for the giggles and grins, these paraproskodians are priceless! And you have to know that I love that there is a proper name for this kind of silliness. Thank you.
As Kate wrote, I'm sorry to read about the loss of your Aunt Bobbie. It sounds like she was the kind of person who will definitely be missed. 🙂
Thank you, thank you. I have a terrible knack of mucking up sayings and my teenager daughters always nail me for it. I know have a comeback line….it wasn't a mistake it is a psraprodokian…..
Ditto on the thank yous and the condolences.
You have brightened more than one person's weekend!
thanks for the funnies!! I had fun reading them ;-P