Thursday, September 19, 2013

Zeugma

I'm definitely not sure how to pronounce the word "zeugma" but it is defined by dictionary.com as follows:

"the use of a word to modify or govern two or more words when it is ... appropriate to each but in a different way."

..... sorry, what?  I know, I was confused too when my mom first explained this to me, until she gave me an example.  An example of a zeugma is, "On his fishing trip he caught three trout and a cold."

The example my mom gave me was, "He went into great detail and the bar."  I blinked for a few seconds, trying to understand that sentence.  As soon as I figured it out, I started laughing.  What a hilarious idea!  We spent the next several minutes coming  up with zeugmas. 

"She left in high spirits and a limousine."
"I am going to go teach a Zumba class and crazy!"
"I ran out of money and the bathroom with my towel on."

Corky later came up with an AA zeugma: "I fell off the bandwagon and my barstool."

As we drove to dinner, I mentioned to Corky that I was seeing cops everywhere.  When I questioned the reason for this, he answered me with a zeugma.  

"Because of the full moon, people are going crazy and in cop cars."

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