Syllepsis is a figure of speech in which one word simultaneously modifies two or more other words such that the modification must be understood differently with respect to each modified word. This creates a semantic incongruity which is often humorous. A figure of speech, sometimes termed a rhetorical figure or device, or elocution, is a word or phrase that departs from straightforward, literal language. ...

Syllepsis is somewhat related to the figure zeugma, but in the latter the modifier does not always logically fit one of the words it modifies. 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. ...

Examples

• He leaned heavily on the lectern and stale jokes.
• He lost his hat and his temper.
• She went home in a flood of tears and a sedan chair. - Charles Dickens
• He said, as he hastened to put out the cat, the wine, his cigar and the lamps... - Flanders and Swann, "Madeira M'Dear"
• She lowered her standards by raising her glass, her courage, her eyes and his hopes. - Flanders and Swann, "Madeira, M'dear"
• She made no reply, up her mind, and a dash for the door. - Flanders and Swann, "Madeira, M'dear"
• You held your breath and the door for me. - Alanis Morissette, in "Head Over Feet":
• ... and covered themselves with dust and glory. - Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
• You can leave in a taxi. If you can't get a taxi, you can leave in a huff. If that's too soon, you can leave in a minute and a huff. - Groucho Marx
• You want your belt to buckle, not your chair.

Charles Dickens was a prolific writer who was almost always working on a new instalment for a story and rarely missed a deadline. ... Flanders and Swann were British actor and singer Michael Flanders (1922–1975) and composer and linguist Donald Swann (1923–1994) who joined forces to write and perform comic songs in the two-man revues At The Drop Of A Hat and At The Drop Of Another Hat. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was a famous and popular American humorist, novelist, writer and lecturer. ... Groucho Marx poses for an NBC promotional photograph Julius Henry Marx, known as Groucho Marx (October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977), was an American comedian, working both with his siblings, the Marx Brothers, and on his own. ...

See also

• Figure of speech
• Zeugma