Zeugma

Literary/ Cultural Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. WORLD HISTORY AND IDEAS: A CROSS-CULTURAL VOLUME.

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A figure of speech, the origin of which is the Greek

zeugnunai

[to yoke together], in which a word is “put in harness” with two or more other words such that its values are transferred apparently inappropriately but with illuminating or comic effect. One famous example is when Charles Dickens says Mr Pickwick “took his hat and leave”. Another famous example is when Alexander Pope in

The Rape of the Lock

has Belinda's dressing table arrayed with “Puffs, powders, patches, bibles, billet-doux”, the Bible evidently being reduced to a mere vain ornament by the company it keeps. Zeugma is often used in bathos (q.v.).

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105 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Zeugma". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 November 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1200, accessed 20 April 2024.]

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