A paraprosdokian – from the Greek para (“beyond”) and prosdokia (“expectation”) – is a figure of speech in which the latter part of sentence or statement has an unexpected twist. The twist is often humorous. Here are some examples of how it’s been used:
* Winston Churchill: “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they have tried everything else.”
* Groucho Marx: “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”
* Homer Simpson: “If I could just say a few words… I’d be a better public speaker.”
* Fran Lebowitz (in an essay from The Fran Lebowitz Reader: “Any child who cannot do long division by himself does not deserve to smoke.”
* Douglas Adams (in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy): “The [alien] ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t.”
* Henny Youngman: “Take my wife – please!”