From the Jack’s Winning Words blog comes this tidbit - “We never really grow up. We only learn how to act in public.” (A Paraprosdokian) How many of you know the word, paraprosdokian, without looking it up? And yet, it’s something that we use regularly to create humor. To see examples, click on the link below.
http://www.englishforums.com/content/humour/paraprosdokians.htm
How true it that! The mark of an adult is often how well he/she has learned to act in public. Get them out of the public eye and one will often re-discover the kids that are still in them. I’m reminded of this most mornings when I see myself making a goofy face in the mirror as I prepare to shave. One can not, as an adult, make goofy faces out in public; although I will occasionally do one discretely to make my wife laugh.
It’s the kid in us all that keeps us young, that allows us to play occasionally and provides unguarded moments of pure joy from time to time. I’m reminded of another saying – “It’s not that we forget how to play when we get old; it’s that we get old when we forget how to play.”
So as you go about your daily adult routines, behaving properly in public; if you get the chance sneak a peek at a mirror and make a goofy face. You’ll feel better if you do. After all, you’ve got the rest of the day to act properly in public.
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