This week: Synecdoche Edited by: Robert Waltz  
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Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.
—Charlie Chaplin
Comedy is surprises, so if you're intending to make somebody laugh and they don't laugh, that's funny.
—Norm MacDonald |
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I'm sure you're all familiar with the figure of speech called synecdoche: when you refer to a thing by the name of one of its parts, or the other way around.
One of the most commonly-cited examples is the phrase "All hands on deck," where "hands" (the part) stands in for the sailors (the whole). But we encounter synecdoche on practically a daily basis; so much, it seems, that we barely even notice. Like when a talking head (itself an example of synechdoche) on the news says that such-and-such executive order came from "the White House" or "the Oval Office," when they really mean "the President."
But since this is the Comedy Newsletter, not the Parts of Speech Newsletter, I wanted to talk about the subversion of synecdoche to amuse and/or annoy people.
Say, for example, your friend laments "I really need a new set of wheels." Well, if you're a comedian with money to burn, you go out and buy four wheels (from a junkyard, say) and leave them in his driveway, even though you know damn well that he meant "a new car." Your friend won't appreciate it, but your other friends (if you have any left by now, being a comedian) will get a good laugh out of it.
Or, maybe, you're over visiting one of your few remaining friends, and she needs help with a project, like, say, fixing her car. She says, "Hey, could you give me a hand?" Here, then, is a wonderful opportunity: you have a choice. You can put down your beer and applaud (giving her a hand), or you can whip out the fake plastic hand you keep on you (right next to the rubber chicken) for emergencies just like this one, and toss it to her.
There's no reason to keep this to practical jokes, though; you can twist the meaning to a literal one in writing as well. For example, "The captain shouted, 'All hands on deck!' so we dropped to all fours, planting our palms firmly on the rough wooden planks."
Or take that old standard in writing: "His eyes fell on the letter sitting on the desk." To which I would add: "Plop, plop."
This manner of taking synecdoche literally for comic effect is, thus, akin to a pun. And a pun is indeed the highest form of humor... for the comedian. And hey, if you do it right, you might even earn yourself a few greenbacks. |
Some funnies for your humerus:
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Last time, in "Groundhoggin'" at the beginning of February, I made comments about Groundhog Day.
tj-turkey-jobble-jobble-hard-J  : If I understand this correctly, if the ground-grinding rodent sees his shadow, six more weeks of winter. However, if he does not, we can expect spring to arrive in about six weeks? Sounds like the little fur ball is right on to me.
As I understand it, that was the original joke. It's kind of like "Don't treat a cold, and it lasts two weeks; treat a cold, and it lasts a fortnight."
oldgreywolf on wheels  Growing up in Alaska, when our German Shepard/Timberwolf hybrids started shedding their winter coats was a sufficiently accurate indicator.
I'm guessing that's because groundhogs have too much sense to live in Alaska.
So that's it for me for now! See you next time. Until then,
LAUGH ON!!!
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Comedy: March 01, 2023 Issue [#11834]
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