One of the things I like about increasingly ubiquitous social media is getting to follow my high school Latin teacher, Wells Hansen, on Twitter. Reading this witty quip this morning reminded me of his lesson on zeugma, back in ‘94. I’m oversimplifying a bit, but zeugma has to do with using a verb once, with two different objects that each employ different meanings of the verb (usually for humor’s sake). Well’s example 15 years ago was: I blew my nose and the test, when I sneezed on that paper.

One of the things I like about increasingly ubiquitous social media is getting to follow my high school Latin teacher, Wells Hansen, on Twitter.

Reading this witty quip this morning reminded me of his lesson on zeugma, back in ‘94. I’m oversimplifying a bit, but zeugma has to do with using a verb once, with two different objects that each employ different meanings of the verb (usually for humor’s sake). Well’s example 15 years ago was:

I blew my nose and the test, when I sneezed on that paper.

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  1. alexbain posted this

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