Scribbled Lives Week 6—Paraprosdokian

A paraprosdokian is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence is unexpected in a way that causes the reader to re-interpret the first part. It is frequently used for humorous or dramatic effect and is popular among comedians and satirists.

I had great fun researching paraprosdokians and came up with a short list for this prompt:

1. People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day. A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
2. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
3. I didn’t say it was your fault; I said I was blaming you.
4. If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.
5. Dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish.

Besides a lot of hilarity, it’s been a messy week in the studio as I try a new tool—the Handwritmic. Since this tool gives a splashy effect, paraprosdokian option 5 was a worthy candidate. There’s ink spatter everywhere plus a pile of dolphin trials—equaling lots of scrap watercolour sheets! Messy fun!

Handwritmic, Mitchell 3.5 nib, and Bister inks on 140 lb cold press watercolour paper.

The Handwritmic tool is similar to a Cola pen or Ruling Writer and features three writing points or surfaces: pointed, small, and large. It is developed for speed, mostly gestural writing.