aprosdoketon

See also: Aprosdoketon

English

WOTD – 5 November 2006

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)

1. 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), [1]:

     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[?]

2. (by extension) Any surprising use or interpretation of language.
   • 2000, Gonda A. H. Van Steen, Venom in Verse‎^[2]:

     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.

Translations

figure of speech

• German: Aprosdoketon n