He took my pie while I was eating it, so I smacked my lips and his face
One of the guys I work with introduced us to a new word last night: zeugma. It means a single word that is used in a sentence to refer to two different words but that applies to each of the words differently. He gave this example: I went fishing and I caught three trout and a cold.
According to the OED, zeugma is another word for syllepsis.
Posted on August 9, 2008 9:00 am, in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. 5 Comments.
Wikipedia defines it differently, with syllepsis being the subtype of zeugma that you’re talking about. Syllepsis sounds like a useful word for describing how the grammar of humour differs from the grammar of standard language.
That’s so cool. I didn’t know there was a word for that, but I love that when it shows up in writing.
There is some argument about the distinction between zeugma and syllepsis, which can be as slippery as synecdoche and metonymy.
I love that technique; it’s fun to find out it has a name. I’ll have to look into the two terms.
Frankly, “zeugma” has my vote, simply because it sounds so cool!
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