Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2022 September 13

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September 13

Opposite of paraprosdokian

I recently saw Emo Philips perform. He is known for paraprosdokian humor. One of his jokes was the opposite. Instead of changing the meaning of the sentence at the very end, he changed the meaning of the sentence by not including an end. The joke was: "I've been asked if I ever had a job I hated. In college, I was often strapped for cash." He doesn't continue, changing the meaning of the sentence. Is there a term for this or is it in the catch-all of paraprosdokian humor. 12.116.29.106 (talk) 12:51, 13 September 2022 (UTC)

Emo Phillips is, among many other styles of humor, also known for antijokes. There is not a specific word for every single kind of joke, and as far as I know, no word that means "the opposite of paraprosdokian". --Jayron32 13:41, 13 September 2022 (UTC)

Assuming that actually is a joke, presumably he's making a play on words, i.e. implying that he got paid to be whipped. Seems sufficiently Paraprosdokian. As to the "opposite", the opposite of most any joke is a serious statement. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:31, 13 September 2022 (UTC)

I feel that I should explain why I feel the joke above is the opposite. His usual humor is based on the end of the sentence changing the meaning of what comes before, such as "I have a love for animals that is almost illegal" or "I kissed her from the top of her head to the bottom of her toe tag." Those end with something that changes the meaning instead of not ending with something, which changes the meaning. 12.116.29.106 (talk) 14:44, 13 September 2022 (UTC)

It would seem that your interpretation of the joke is different from mine. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:15, 13 September 2022 (UTC)

Where it's maybe a bit different is that you as the listener are conditioned to wait for the other shoe to drop and when it doesn't, it causes you to more carefully read the previous words. By itself I think it's just the same sort of paraprosdokian humour, but within the context of his routine there's additional humour added by making you do the work. There's probably a separate word for that, though I don't know what fits the bill. Here's something similar, though. There's a limerick that goes "There once was a man from Verdun." On its own it's meaningless and incomplete, which is why collections always preface it with a variation of "There once was a man from Peru / Whose limericks all stopped at line two." Kind of the same thing in that the audience has to do the work themselves rather than it being made explicit. Matt Deres (talk) 15:42, 13 September 2022 (UTC)

I wonder if it is an Anapodoton? --ColinFine (talk) 17:07, 13 September 2022 (UTC)

The verb form "strap", to beat with a strap, is a century older than "strapped for cash".[1] ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:57, 14 September 2022 (UTC)

Muslim personal law.

correct me if I'm wrong but it seems in the Indian jurisdiction, muslim laws are separate in form and not under a uniform civil code. what could be the legal consequences of marriages that are declared irregular and void under muslim personal law in india? Grotesquetruth (talk) 15:34, 13 September 2022 (UTC)

By established law of the State of India, Muslims in India (except for Goa) are subject to the Muslim Personal Law Application Act. In general, the civil authorities will recognize and accept the validity of relevant determinations made by Muslim clerics as if they were made by a civil court, with the same consequences. One exception is the triple talaq divorce, which has been ruled unconstitutional.  --Lambiam 17:04, 13 September 2022 (UTC)