Editor's Corner

Good morning, dear people!

Today I have another rhetorical term for you: anacoluthon. At first, I thought this was a Greek swear word, but it’s not. It is defined as “syntactical inconsistency or incoherence within a sentence especially: a shift in an unfinished sentence from one syntactic construction to another.” Here’s an example:

I told Gracie that we were coming to dinner—what’s that? A squirrel?

The shift, the inconsistency in the sentence, is used to create realistic dialogue, to show a change in thought, or to show emotion. I have a few examples of anacoluthon for you from Poem Analysis, and the great bard himself.

The works of William Shakespeare provide readers with a number of examples of anacoluthon. These can mainly be found when someone is trying to express something difficult, emotional, or complicated. It’s in these moments that it makes the most sense for sentences to interrupt one another, changing the feeling of the syntax.

King Lear

I will have such revenges on you both,

That all the world shall—I will do such things,

What they are, yet I know not

Hamlet

To die, to sleep–

No more–and by a sleep to say we end

The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to?

To die, to sleep–

To sleep–perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub?

Then, there’s the anti-bard, AI. Here are a few examples from Copilot:

1. "You know, I really ought to—well, never mind."
2. "If you think I’m going to—look, just don’t."
3. "I can’t believe you—anyway, let’s move on."
4. "He said he would call, and then—nothing."
5. "It’s not that I don’t want to help, but—well, maybe I do."

And there you have it! I think using this stylistic device is considerably easier than saying the word, anacolotholonectomy. Wait, I mean anacoluthon.

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Knowledge Enablement

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

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