– Roopa Banerjee

“I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn’t it.”

As the meme goes, ‘they had me in the first half.’  The first half sounds like a compliment. The second suddenly pulls the rug from underneath. This sentence is an example of the popular literary device paraprosdokian, in which the end of a sentence surprises us by changing, twisting, or undercutting the meaning we initially expected.

The word paraprosdokian comes from the Greek para, meaning “against” or “contrary to,” and prosdokia, meaning “expectation.” Put the two together, and you have something that goes against expectation.

Humour is where paraprosdokian feels most at home. The surprise may come from a joke, a pun, an ironic observation or an unexpected change of meaning. The result is witty, absurd or deliciously mischievous.

Great writers have made excellent use of this technique. Oscar Wilde, whose writing is packed with clever reversals, provides a good example in The Importance of Being Earnest: “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.” Wilde turns a compliment into an insult with a wonderfully economical twist.

Another literary example is in Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Adams writes: “The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t.” The final word changes the direction of the sentence and produces an instant comic effect.

Paraprosdokian thrives particularly well in comedy because jokes depend so heavily on surprise. Groucho Marx was a master of this technique. His famous line, “I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn’t it,” begins as though he is about to offer a compliment before abruptly reversing it.

Paraprosdokian can also be used to make a serious point more memorable. By surprising readers, it makes them reconsider an assumption they may have taken for granted. A writer can use it to expose hypocrisy, create irony or make an observation about human behaviour without sounding preachy.

There is a reason these sentences often stick in our minds. Our brains naturally try to predict what comes next. When the final phrase contradicts that prediction, we experience surprise. In comedy, that surprise becomes laughter. In more serious writing, it becomes reflection.

Paraprosdokian also has something in common with everyday conversation. Think about the friend who begins a sentence with, “I have decided to start eating healthily…” and then finishes with, “…as soon as I finish this cake.” The humour comes from the gap between expectation and reality.

The trick, of course, is timing. If the unexpected ending is too obvious, there is no surprise. If it is too obscure, the reader may be confused. The most effective paraprosdokians make perfect sense once we hear the ending, leaving us with that satisfying feeling of suddenly seeing a familiar sentence from a completely different angle.

Paraprosdokians remind us that words don’t always have to travel in a straight line. A sentence can begin with one promise and finish with another, leaving the reader delighted by the detour. From Wilde’s elegant wit to Douglas Adams’s absurdity, and from Groucho Marx to the classic comedy routine, this literary device proves that sometimes the best way to make an impression is to let the final few words change everything.

Challenge

Here are ten famous paraprosdokians whose unexpected endings have made them memorable. Guess who said them:

1. “I can resist everything except temptation.”
2. “The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people keep coming along and sticking things into it.”
3. “I never forget a face, but in your case, I’ll be glad to make an exception.”
4. “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.”
5. “I was born in 1962. And the room next to me was 1963.”

Answers

1. Oscar Wilde
2. Terry Pratchett
3. Groucho Marx
4. Billy Sunday
5. Joan Rivers