This article examines proverbs in which the fit between the lines (cola) is awkward.
This may sometimes be a flaw, but in quite a few of cases it seems intended for a
particular rhetorical effect. Imperfect parallelism leaves a gap between the lines.
When the missing component–a premise or a conclusion–is mentally
supplied, the couplet gains cohesiveness and a tighter linkage. Such
‘disjointed' proverbs are a type of enthymeme which involves the
audience in its own persuasion.
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