My Favorite Zeugma:
Thanks to commenter Dan Simon, who reminded me of this zeugma, from the famous English radical (and hero to the American revolutionaries) John Wilkes. The Earl of Sandwich apparently exclaimed to Wilkes something like, "I don't know whether you will die on the gallows or of the pox" (the "pox" referring to syphilis). Wilkes then replied,
That depends on whether I embrace your Lordship's principles or your mistress.
The quote is often attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, but the source I cite above is from 1839, when Disraeli was just beginning his political career; if the statement had indeed been from Disraeli rather than Wilkes, it seems unlikely that an 1839 source would label it as being Wilkes's.
Related Posts (on one page):
- My Favorite Zeugma:
- Blegging for Zeugmas:
- Zeugma Avoidance -- a Canon of Construction: