Zeugma
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- This article is about the rhetorical concept of zeugma. For the historical city of Zeugma see Zeugma (city).
Zeugma (from the Greek word "ζεύγμα", meaning "yoke") is a figure of speech in which one word applies to two others in different senses of that word, and in some cases only logically applies to one of the other two words. Dictionaries differ on the exact definition of zeugma, some not including the lack of logical application to one word (eg Oxford), and others insisting on it (eg Hutchinson's Dictionary of Difficult Words). Still others waver (eg Merriam-Webster's).
A distinction that is sometimes made, is between Semantic and Syntactic zeugma.
- Semantic zeugma consists in attaching to the primary word two different complements of different senses, one concrete and the other abstract. The classic example of this is:
- Here thou, great Anna! whom three realms obey,
- Dost sometimes counsel take - and sometimes tea.
- Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock
- Or,
- He carried a strobe light and the responsibility for the lives of his men.
- Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried
- Syntactic zeugma is when the primary word merely applies in a different sense to the secondary words.
- If we don't hang together, we shall hang separately
- Benjamin Franklin
- Or, a more modern example:
- You held your breath and the door for me
- Alanis Morissette, Head Over Feet
Zeugma is also a rhetorical or poetic device used in Classic Latin Poetry, such as Vergil's epic, the Aeneid. Its utilisation is somewhat similar to that of English. However, in Latin, one verb contains several dissimilar meanings, such as peto, petere, petivi, petitus, meaning to seek, head for, or aim at. Thus, an example of zeugma might use this one verb with two or three direct objects, bearing a different meaning with each object. For example: petit terram et virum sagitta, or he seeks the land and aims at the man with his arrow.
Other examples of Zeugma:
- "Oh, flowers are as common here, Miss Fairfax, as people are in London." (from The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde) In this zeugma, Cecily is making a catty remark to Miss Fairfax, a Londoner, by using "common" in two senses, namely "numerous" and "vulgar".
- "Are you getting fit or having one?" (from the television program M*A*S*H) In this zeugma, Hawkeye uses the word "fit" not only in two different meanings, but also as two different parts of speech: "physically toned" (adjective) and "neurological crisis" (noun).
- "Procrastination is like masturbation, in the end, you're just screwing yourself." In this zeugma, the verb "to screw" is used in two different contexts (procrastination vs. masturbation) and two different meanings: in one as "sexual intercourse" (to screw) and the other as "getting in trouble" (getting screwed).
- "People-pleasing people pleasing people like you." This line from Elvis Costello ("Chemistry Class") changes the part of speech of "pleasing" several times to indicate "those persons who enjoy pleasing others (are) offering pleasure to persons similar to you." "Pleasing" acts, therefore, as an adjective and participle, and this zeugma is intensified by the addition of "like," with its "pleasing" connotations.
Other sources offer up examples such as "loud thunder and lightning" or "He broke the record and a leg" as zeugmas, perhaps reflecting the disagreement over the word's definition.
In syllepsis, a similar concept to zeugma, a word modifies others in appropriate, though often incongruous ways.
External links
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