aprosdoketon
See also: Aprosdoketon
WOTD – 5 November 2006
English
Alternative forms
- aprosdoceton
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἀπροσδόκητος (aprosdókētos, “unexpected”).
Pronunciation
- (US, with Grecian stress): IPA(key): /ˌæp.ɹəsˈdɑ.kɪˌtɑn/
Audio (US) (file) - (US, with Latinate stress): IPA(key): /əˌpɹɑs.dəˈkiˌtɑn/
Audio (US) (file)
Noun
aprosdoketon (plural aprosdoketons or aprosdoketa)
- A figure of speech where an expected word in an idiom is replaced unexpectedly by an unusual one, as in Rome wasn't built in a teacup.
- 1997, T. Tarkow, Theognis 237–254: A Reexamination, in Quaderni urbinati di cultura classica 26, quoted in Roman Constructions (Don Fowler, 2000), :
- Is the poet saying "I do not chance on even a slight respect from you" or "I chance on a good amount of respect from you," a meaning which effectively postpones the aprosdoketon to the final line[?]
- 1997, T. Tarkow, Theognis 237–254: A Reexamination, in Quaderni urbinati di cultura classica 26, quoted in Roman Constructions (Don Fowler, 2000), :
- By extension, any surprising use or interpretation of language.
- 2000, Gonda A. H. Van Steen, Venom in Verse:
- In later restagings of the Thesmophoriazusae, as in the 1959 Frogs, Euripides made his appearance driving a motorcycle. This scenic aprosdoketon was, of course, an ingenious verbal and visual pun on the word mechane and its different meanings in ancient and modern Greek: "stage crane" and "motorbike," respectively.
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Translations
figure of speech
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