aprosdoketons

Noun

aprosdoketon (plural aprosdoketons or aprosdoketa)

1. A figure of speech where an expected word in an idiom is replaced unexpectedly by an unusual one, as in Rome wasn't built in a teacup.
   • Is the poet saying "I do not chance on even a slight respect from you" or "I chance on a good amount of respect from you," a meaning which effectively postpones the aprosdoketon to the final line[?]1997, T. Tarkow, Theognis 237–254: A Reexamination, in Quaderni urbinati di cultura classica 26, quoted in Roman Constructions (Don Fowler, 2000)...
2. (broadly) Any surprising use or interpretation of language.
   • In later restagings of the Thesmophoriazusae, as in the 1959 Frogs, Euripides made his appearance driving a motorcycle. This scenic aprosdoketon was, of course, an ingenious verbal and visual pun on the word mechane and its different meanings in ancient and modern Greek: "stage crane" and...2000, Gonda A. H. Van Steen, Venom in Verse