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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   2076 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 1, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Is there a term for the joining of two phrases or expressions with the last word of the first phrase starting the second phrase? For example:

Mobius strip club

Augean stable genius

I've heard it called "word association football"

A garden path sentence?

The term they use for this category on jeopardy is "before-and-afters"

Also on Wheel

a zeugma apparently (asked gab.ai)

She opened her purse and her heart.
He did not lose his wallet or his mind.
The sun sank beneath the horizon and the hopes of the team.
They buried the hatchet and the hatchet man.
Time heals all wounds, but rum helps.
She left her heart in San Francisco and her luggage at the airport.
He struck oil and the fancy of the lady.
He lost his shirt and his temper.
She took her hat and her leave.
He lost his head and his job.

Zeugma dick

Lmao gottem

Zeugma is where you use one verb with two meanings but attached to different terms.

"She entered the room with her hair bound in a ponytail and her teeth in bright wire braces." Bound there is used for both objects.

I'm thinking OP is more just thinking about the common term "pun."

They're not the same, though I'm finding it hard to articulate what the difference is. The examples are clearly different, though?

They all equivocate on verbs, whereas what I had in mind usually goes noun->adjective.

My favorite zeugma:

Fact: In Pastafarian heaven, there is a beer volcano and a stripper factory.

Joke/zeugma: In hell, they're both flat.

I think Zeugma is a broader term than OP is looking for, though OP's examples are zeugmas. I define zeugma as "a word used once with two meanings as connected to different parts of the context."

I've only ever seen zeugma used to refer to sentences, and never to non-propositional phrases - though the principle here seems similar. I'm not aware of an established name for these. Phrasal zeugma maybe?

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