A Zeugma
A zeugma (ZOOG-muh) is a figure of speech that uses a word in two different senses, usually in the same sentence: "Her tastes were rich, but her husband wasn't."
Zeugmas are usually intentional, and can be fun. You most often find them in print, carefully crafted by clever writers. But my favorite one came from a conversation I overheard. So it was spontaneous, as many good things are.
A couple standing near me at a party began a semi-friendly argument about whether or not they should move back to their home state. She was for it, he was against. The most interesting part of their exchange began when she raised her voice a little and said "I really can't understand why you don't want to move back."
"For one simple reason," he answered. "There's nothing there."
"That's just not true," she pouted, "there's a lot there."
He paused only a second, then nodded. "Yeah," he said, "I'll admit there's a lot there. But it's vacant."
Of course we would enjoy zeugmas like that even if we didn't know what to call them. But learning a new word can be fun too. And we don't have to worry about running out of new terms. There's a lot there, for sure.
Zeugmas are usually intentional, and can be fun. You most often find them in print, carefully crafted by clever writers. But my favorite one came from a conversation I overheard. So it was spontaneous, as many good things are.
A couple standing near me at a party began a semi-friendly argument about whether or not they should move back to their home state. She was for it, he was against. The most interesting part of their exchange began when she raised her voice a little and said "I really can't understand why you don't want to move back."
"For one simple reason," he answered. "There's nothing there."
"That's just not true," she pouted, "there's a lot there."
He paused only a second, then nodded. "Yeah," he said, "I'll admit there's a lot there. But it's vacant."
Of course we would enjoy zeugmas like that even if we didn't know what to call them. But learning a new word can be fun too. And we don't have to worry about running out of new terms. There's a lot there, for sure.
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