Template:Short description In rhetoric, antanaclasis (Template:IPAc-en; from the Template:Langx, antanáklasis, meaning "reflection",<ref>Antanaklasis, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, at Perseus project</ref> from ἀντί anti, "against", ἀνά ana, "up" and κλάσις klásis "breaking") is the literary trope in which a single word or phrase is repeated, but in two different senses.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Antanaclasis is a common type of pun, and like other kinds of pun, it is often found in slogans.<ref name="Corbett and Connors, 1999. p.62-63">Corbett and Connors, 1999. p.62-63</ref>

ExamplesEdit

ShakespeareEdit

  • Put out the light, then put out the light. — From Othello. Othello utters these words to himself as he enters Desdemona's chamber while she sleeps, intending to murder her. The first instance of put the light out means he will quench the candle, and the second instance means he will end the life of Desdemona.<ref name="myenglishpages.com"/>
  • I will dissemble myself in't; and I would I were the first that ever dissembled in such a gown. — In Twelfth Night, the fool Feste, where dissemble changes from "disguise" to "act hypocritically".<ref>Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night. Act IV, scene II, lines 5-6.</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy Will
    And Will to boot, and Will in overplus... — Shakespeare's Sonnet 135. The speaker is named Will, but the woman he is addressing has another lover who is also named Will. In this sonnet, the word will is used thirteen times, meaning "William", "sexual desire", "penis", or "vagina", depending on the context (and it usually means more than one of these things at once).<ref>Sparknotes. Retrieved 09 June, 2018.http://nfs.sparknotes.com/sonnets/sonnet_135.html</ref><ref>Kennedy, 2006. p. 123</ref>
  • Shall this his mock mock out of their dear husbands, Mock mothers from their sons, mock castles down — from Henry V, King Henry utters four times the word mock to express two different meanings of 'mock' - one is 'to cheat' another is 'to taunt'.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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WitticismsEdit

AdvertisingEdit

  • The long cigarette that's long on flavor. — Pall Mall cigarettes<ref name="Corbett and Connors, 1999. p.63"/>
  • We make the traveler's lot a lot easier. — Overseas National Airways<ref name="Corbett and Connors, 1999. p.63"/>

Responding to questionsEdit

Antanaclases are prevalent in humorous paraprosdokians employed when responding to a question. For example, in response to the question "how are you two?", an Israeli (Modern Hebrew) speaker can say בסדר גמור; היא בסדר, אני גמור be-séder gamúr; hí be-séder, aní gamúr, literally "in-order complete; she in-order, I complete", i.e. "We are very good. She is good, I am finished".<ref name=Revivalistics>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Note the ambiguity of the Israeli lexical item גמור gamúr: it means both "complete" and "finished".<ref name=Revivalistics/>Template:Rp A parallel punning paraprosdokian in English is a man's response to a friend's question Why are you and your wife here?: A workshop; I am working, she is shopping.<ref name=Revivalistics/>Template:Rp

Latin literatureEdit

  • The Roman poet Lucretius in De rerum natura Book 3 line 365 observes that we sometimes find ourselves temporarily blinded by bright objects because "lumina luminibus quia nobis praepediuntur" (because our eyes are impeded by the lights), taking advantage of the fact that in Latin the same word can mean both "eye" and "light".

See alsoEdit

FootnotesEdit

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SourcesEdit

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External linksEdit

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