Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2024 February 29

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February 29

Paraprosdokian

"He was at his best when the going was good" is listed in Paraprosdokian#Examples. How is this a paraprosdokian? What are the expected and reinterpreted meanings of the first part? Nardog (talk) 11:25, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

The more likely second-half would be something like "when the going was bad" or "when things were tough." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:43, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

'He was at his best' implies some outstanding quality of effort or achievement; 'when the going was good' is when everybody should do their best, implying he was nothing special after all? It does seem a weak example. -- Verbarson  ^talk_edits 11:48, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

The expected phrase might be; "He was at his best when the going was tough" (or "rough", or "hardest"), some random examples in print are like this (of JFK), or this (of Ernest Shackleton), or this (of Boris Yeltsin), or this (of Fernie Flaman), or this (of James B. Craig). So to say "when the going was good" instead would surprise most readers (but not the OP obviously), and is implying that he was useless in difficult situations. Alansplodge (talk) 12:49, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Another example is found in the film Starman, when Jeff Bridges's alien says, "Shall I tell you what I find beautiful about you? You are at your very best when things are worst." Deor (talk) 14:49, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

See also, in a similar vein, When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Alansplodge (talk) 22:34, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

I get that's the joke. I was wondering if there was an alternative interpretation because, if that's the joke, there's no reinterpretation of "He was at his best" that occurs, and only the expectation for the second part is subverted (whereas in "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it", one is forced to reconsider the interpretation of the present perfect). It's not a paraprosdokian then, as I suspected. Nardog (talk) 00:17, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Up until the poison in the tail, the audience will interpret the first part as eulogistic. The final word forces a reappraisal, which, one might argue, is an illocutionary reinterpretation.  --Lambiam 01:29, 1 March 2024 (UTC)