Inrhetoric,antanaclasis (/æntəˈnækləsɪs,ˌæntænəˈklæsɪs/; from theGreek:ἀντανάκλασις,antanáklasis, meaning "reflection",[1] fromἀντίanti, "against",ἀνάana, "up" and κλάσιςklásis "breaking") is the literarytrope in which a single word or phrase is repeated, but in two different senses.[2] Antanaclasis is a common type ofpun, and like other kinds of pun, it is often found inslogans.[3]
Your argument issound, nothing butsound. —Benjamin Franklin. The wordsound in the first instance means "solid" or "reasonable". The second instance ofsound means "noise".[4][5]
“In Genua, someone set out to makedreams come true... Remember some of yourdreams?” –Sir Terry Pratchett.[6] The first usage ofdreams refers to aspirations or desires, while the second refers to literal dreams.
"When the going gets tough, you don't want acriminal lawyer, alright? You want acriminal lawyer." –Jesse Pinkman, describingSaul Goodman.
In Genesis 40:13 and 40:19, Joseph interprets two dreams and uses "lift up your head" to deliver two messages—one positive and the other, negative—to the two prisoners.[7]
The Chinese poem "Shī-shì shí shī shǐ" ("Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den") byYuen Ren Chao. The words are written differently in the original language (Classical Chinese), and are pronounced as the same syllable (some with different tones) when read aloud in modernStandard Mandarin.
Put out thelight, then put out thelight. — FromOthello. Othello utters these words to himself as he entersDesdemona'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.[4]
I willdissemble myself in't; and I would I were the first that everdissembled in such a gown. — InTwelfth Night, the foolFeste, wheredissemble changes from "disguise" to "act hypocritically".[8][9]
Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thyWill AndWill to boot, andWill in overplus... —Shakespeare'sSonnet 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).[10][11]
Shall this hismockmock out of their dear husbands,Mock mothers from their sons,mock castles down — fromHenry V, King Henry utters four times the word mock to express two different meanings of 'mock' - one is 'to cheat' another is 'to taunt'.[12][13]
"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana" is an example of agarden path sentence – the first half of the sentence misleads the reader into parsing the second half incorrectly. The exact origin of the phrase is unknown, but differing versions of it have appeared in print since the 1960s.
In an essay entitled "The Literati of New York City",Edgar Allan Poe wrote ofGeorge B. Cheever: "He is much better known, however, as the editor ofTheCommonplace Book of American Poetry, a work which has at least the merit of not belying its title, andis exceedingly commonplace".[17][18]
The American football coachVince Lombardi once told his team: "If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired, with enthusiasm".[4]
Antanaclases are prevalent in humorousparaprosdokians 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 גמורbe-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".[19]: 88 Note the ambiguity of the Israeli lexical item גמורgamúr: it means both "complete" and "finished".[19]: 88 A parallel punning paraprosdokian in English is a man's response to a friend's questionWhy are you and your wife here?:Aworkshop; I amworking, she isshopping.[19]: 88
The Roman poetLucretius inDe 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".
^Reynolds, Frederic (1811)."Life". In Mrs. Inchbald (ed.).Volume 1: The Will, The Rage, Life, How to Grow Rich, Notoriety. The Modern Theatre: A Collection of Successful Modern Plays. Longmans, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. p. 176.
The dictionary definition ofantanaclasis at Wiktionary