An anapodoton (from Ancient Greek ἀναπόδοτον anapódoton: "that which lacks an apodosis, that is, the consequential clause in a conditional sentence), plural anapodota, is a rhetorical device related to the anacoluthon; both involve a thought being interrupted or discontinued before it is fully expressed. It is a figure of speech or discourse that is an incomplete sentence, consisting of a subject or complement without the requisite object. The stand-alone subordinate clause suggests or implies a subject (a main clause), but this is not actually provided.^[1]

As an intentional rhetorical device, it is generally used for set phrases, where the full form is understood, and would thus be tedious to spell out, as in "When in Rome [do as the Romans]."

Anapodota are common in Classical Chinese and languages that draw from it, such as Japanese, where a long literary phrase is commonly abbreviated to just its condition. For example, Zhuangzi's phrase 井鼃不可以語於海者拘於虛也 "A frog in a well cannot conceive of the ocean", meaning "people of limited experience have a narrow world view" is rendered as 井底之蛙 "A frog in a well" in Modern Chinese, and as I no naka no kawazu (井の中の蛙) "A frog in a well" in Modern Japanese, abbreviating I no naka no kawazu taikai o shirazu (井の中の蛙大海を知らず) "A frog in a well does not know the great ocean".

Other uses

It is also said to occur when a main clause is left unsaid due to a speaker interrupting him/herself to revise a thought, thus leaving the initial clause unresolved, but then making use of it nonetheless by recasting and absorbing it into a new, grammatically complete sentence.

Though grammatically incorrect, anapodoton is a commonplace feature of everyday informal speech. It, therefore, appears frequently in dramatic writing and in fiction in the form of direct speech or the representation of stream of consciousness.

Examples:

• "If you think I'm going to sit here and take your insults..."

(implied: "then you are mistaken")

• When life gives you lemons..."

(implied: "you make lemonade")

• "If they came to hear me beg..."

(implied: "then they will be disappointed")

• "The only easy day..."

(implied: "was yesterday")

• "When the going gets tough..."

(implied: "the tough get going")

• "If you can’t stand the heat..."

(implied: "get out of the kitchen")

• "Birds of a feather..."

(implied: "flock together")

See also

• Aposiopesis
• Xiehouyu

References