Contemporary Applications
of Ancient Rhetoric

What is it?

Zeugma is a rhetorical device that extends a word beyond its normal use in a sentence by making it modify two things that would not often be found together (e.g.,"He missed the train, and his family" or "She caught the train, and a husband"). These examples are the most common form of zeugma. That is, a verb at the beginning of the sentence must take a dramatically different meaning in subsequent parts of the sentence. On the other hand, the verb can also be placed at the end of the sentence for a different, more poetic effect (e.g., "The teenage sweethearts, the elderly couple, and the flickering candles all danced late into the night and were burnt out by morning") (adapted from McGuigan p.169).

How can I create it?

One of the best ways to begin employing zeugma is to look at your writing and find places where you could potentially stretch the meaning of the same verb. Take, for example, the following two sentences:

        At the conference, our competitors stole the show. They also took over our contract with Siemens.

Now that you have two sentences that might lend themselves to this device, find a verb that could be used in both, for instance, "stole." Combine the sentences, and you are done:

        At the conference, our competitor's stole the show, and our contract with Siemens.