Anapodoton (an’-a-po’-do-ton): A figure in which a main clause is suggested by the introduction of a subordinate clause, but that main clause never occurs.
Anapodoton is a kind of anacoluthon, since grammatical expectations are interrupted. If the expression trails off, leaving the subordinate clause incomplete, this is sometimes more specifically called anantapodoton. Anapodoton has also named what occurs when a main clause is omitted because the speaker interrupts himself/herself to revise the thought, leaving the initial clause grammatically unresolved but making use of it nonetheless by recasting its content into a new, grammatically complete sentence.
“Well, I’ll be. I never thought I’d see the day when you did something worthwhile.” My father was elated.
I had been gone for four years serving my sentence for stealing 5 T-bone steaks from Hannaford Supermarket. They gave me ten warnings before they had me arrested. They called me “Cheapsteak” at the trial because I sold the stolen t-bones for next to nothing to my neighbors and friends. I got four years because the judge thought I was a wise guy. I wasn’t a wise guy, I was just a high school dropout trying to make a living. My only alternative to stealing meat was mowing lawns, but I’m allergic to grass. So, I turned to meat-napping.
But now I was out of prison, on parole, and facing toward a smarter, wiser, future. I had read a book titled “Are You a Worthless Piece of Shit?” by Sado Minnelli. I concluded that I am a piece of shit, but Sado offered a postscript that is redemptive. It is titled “Chickens.” It explains that raising chickens for their eggs and bodies when they wear out was done throughout the centuries by great people: Jesus, Abraham Lincoln, Ozzie Osborne, and Babe Ruth all raised chickens. If you ask, “The Egg Man” will delver 10 fertile eggs to your door for $10.00. I went for it and now my father was eating scrambled eggs for breakfast and we’re having roast chicken for dinner tonight.
My business “Shell We,” is doing well. I owe it all to Sado Minnelli. Making me feel like a worthless piece of shit prepared me to succeed. You know. When you’re at the bottom.
Definitions courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu.
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