Switcheroo

Switcheroo

A switcheroo is a sudden unexpected variation or reversalcite book| title = The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language| edition = Third Edition| last =| first =| coauthors = | year = 1992| publisher = Houghton Mifflin Company| id = ISBN 0-395-44895-6| pages = p. 1816] often associated with a joke (sometimes "the old switcheroo").cite journal| journal = Time Magazine| volume = | issue = | year = Jul. 03, 1972| pages = p. 25| title = Woody Allen: Rabbit Running| last = Kanfer | first = Vedi S. | url =http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,877848,00.html | format = | accessdate = ]

As a comedic device, this was a favorite of Woody Allen; for a time, he used so many switcheroos that friends referred to him as "Allen Woody"."cite journal| journal = Time Magazine| volume = | issue = | year = Jul. 03, 1972| pages = p. 25| title = Woody Allen: Rabbit Running| last = Kanfer | first = Vedi S. | url =http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,877848,00.html | format = | accessdate = ] Some of Allen's switcheroo gags were:
* Carrying a sword on the street, in case of an attack it turned into a cane, so people would feel sorry for him
* Carrying a bullet in his breast pocket; he claimed someone once threw a Bible at him and the bullet saved his life.

Another example comes from the film The Aristocrats, wherein Wendy Liebman pulls "the old switcheroo". Whereas the joke normally is narrated as a vulgar series of actions followed by the clean punch line, Liebman narrates a very aristocratic series of actions followed by a very vulgar punch line.cite book
title = The Aristocrats| edition = | last = Provenza| first =Paul | coauthors = | year = 2005| publisher = Mighty Cheese Productions| id = IMDB tt0436078| pages =
] [cite web|url=http://youtube.com/watch?v=yfaKld5ahfw|title=Video of Wendy Liebman's "Aristocrats" contribution]

In the book Gödel, Escher, Bach, the author names on of the rules in his version of Propositional calculus the Switcheroo Rule, apparently in honour of an Albanian railroad engineer, name Q.q.Switcheroo, who "worked in logic on the siding".cite book
title = Gödel, Escher, Bach | edition = | last = Hofstadter | first = Douglas R. | coauthors = | year = 1979 | publisher = Basic Books | pages = 187
] This is in reality the rule of "Transposition".

ee also

*Comic strip switcheroo
*Variation on a theme
*Bait and switch

References



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Look at other dictionaries:

  • switcheroo — switch er*oo n. a sudden and unexpected change or reversal of position, attitude, or action. [PJC] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • switcheroo — ☆ switcheroo [swich΄ə ro͞o′ ] n. [ SWITCH (n. 7) + EROO] Slang a sudden or unexpected shift or change, often a deliberately deceptive one …   English World dictionary

  • switcheroo — n. (slang) (AE) variation to pull a switcheroo * * * [ swɪtʃəruː] (slang) (AE) [ variation ] to pull a switcheroo …   Combinatory dictionary

  • switcheroo — [“switJVru] n. a reversal; a switching around. □ He pulled a switcheroo on us and showed up at the other door, so we missed getting his autograph. □ She is a master at the old switcheroo …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • switcheroo — noun A tricky, sneaky, or clever swap or exchange. If you were expecting chocolate, biting into carob can seem like a nasty switcheroo …   Wiktionary

  • Switcheroo (pricing game) — Switcheroo is a pricing game on the American television game show The Price Is Right . Debuting on October 22, 1976, this game is played for a car, plus four small prizes (each worth between $10 and $99). It is also a game in which it is… …   Wikipedia

  • Switcheroo (disambiguation) — Switcheroo can mean: * A sudden unexpected switch, often associated with a joke (sometimes the old switcheroo ) * A television game, Switcheroo played on The Price Is Right …   Wikipedia

  • switcheroo — noun (plural oos) Etymology: alteration of switch Date: 1933 a surprising variation ; reversal …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • switcheroo — /swich euh rooh , swich euh rooh /, n., pl. switcheroos. Slang. an unexpected or sudden change or reversal in attitude, character, position, action, etc. [1930 35; SWITCH + EROO] * * * …   Universalium

  • Switcheroo — change; turnabout …   Dictionary of Australian slang

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