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Can I say something like

Er kommt bei mir vorbei und um.

to mean "he comes by my house and dies", thus expressing the verbs vorbeikommen and umkommen by using kommen only once?

boaten
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    Interesting question. I'd be also interested in its usage. Perahps could you address that as well in your question? If not, I could open a new question, but I'd feel like stealing your idea. – c.p. Mar 23 '14 at 11:07
  • @c.p. I think the usage is (at least partly) answered by the comments below. But please feel free to open a new question if you wish. :) – boaten Mar 23 '14 at 18:52

2 Answers2

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Yes. It's actually a rhetorical device named Zeugma. A few examples:

Er trat die Tür ein und den Rückweg an.

Ich heiße nicht nur Heinz Erhardt, sondern Sie auch herzlich willkommen.

Ich fror vor mich hin, denn nicht nur meine Mutter, auch der Ofen war ausgegangen.

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Ingmar
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    One might add that this is done for comical effect. – Carsten S Mar 23 '14 at 10:57
  • Not necessarily. There's nothing inherently comic about, say, "She lowered her standards by raising her glass, her courage, her eyes and his hopes" or "You held your breath and the door for me." – Ingmar Mar 23 '14 at 11:03
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    It certainly amuses me. And it is hardly a coincidence that the name Heinz Erhardt occurs in your examples. – Carsten S Mar 23 '14 at 11:12
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    I think that issue is important. If it's done for amusement, for sake of economic writing or because it must be written so. – c.p. Mar 23 '14 at 11:26
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    In German language a zeugma is either used to create a comical effect or in error. I can't think of a situation where a zeugma is used in a stylistically correct serious German sentence. – Hubert Schölnast Mar 23 '14 at 12:08
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    I can. Let's take Schiller, e.g.: Was heißt und zu welchem Ende studiert man Universalgeschichte? Or this quote from Wilhelm Tell: "Der See kann sich, der Landvogt nicht erbarmen." Is that funny, or just in error? Or this (somewhat older) quote from an Austrian newspaper: "Am Samstag geht Thomas Gottschalk und damit eine Ära im ZDF zu Ende". It's a rhetorical device alright, but it doesn't have to be funny. Of course some people are more easily amused than others, so who am I to say ... – Ingmar Mar 23 '14 at 13:30
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    I do not see any zeugma of the kind described in the question in your first quote. Neither in the second, but maybe I do not fully understand it. – Carsten S Mar 23 '14 at 14:38
  • Can i use zeugma in a everyday situation or they would look at me weirdly? – Lex Mar 23 '14 at 15:26
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    @Lex In everyday situations, using a zeugma will always yield attention on your language used. It'll mostly be humour but can also be negatively weird if it is taken as some kind of "language nerd/grammar nazi thing". – Toscho Mar 23 '14 at 16:06
  • On that we can agree. It's not for everyday conversation, and for learners of German at that. – Ingmar Mar 23 '14 at 16:48
  • I don't understand the meaning of the second and third examples. Could someone please clarify? – boaten Mar 23 '14 at 18:53
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    You mean my examples? "Der See kann sich, der Landvogt nicht erbarmen" is short for "der See kann sich erbarmen, der Landvogt kann sich nicht erbarmen" (The lake may take pity on him; but the Governor, never.") The last example is a play on words: gehen = to leave, zu Ende gehen = end. Gottschlalk will leave for good and an era will come to end. – Ingmar Mar 23 '14 at 18:58
  • @Ingmar Sorry for not being clear. I meant the 2nd and 3rd examples in your original answer. For "... denn nicht nur meine Mutter, auch der Ofen war ausgegangen" I guess it means "meine Mutter war ausgegangen, der Ofen war ausgegangen", i.e. "my mother went out, the oven went out." I don't understand the sentence "Ich heiße nicht nur Heinz Erhardt, sondern Sie auch herzlich willkommen." – boaten Mar 23 '14 at 19:08
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    Yes, it means "both my mother and the oven had gone out". The last example relies on the double meaning of "heißen" = being named and "Willkommen heißen" = to welcome. – Ingmar Mar 23 '14 at 19:36
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To add to the other answer... it doesn't always have to be playing with the language.

Ich fahre hin und zurück.

Ver- und Entsorgungswerke Berlin Brandenburg

It is done a lot. The wit comes in whenever the meaning of the basic verb is switched by one prefix.

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Emanuel
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  • Clearly the effect is more humorous the more the affixes change the meaning of the root. "Hin"/"zurück" are almost completely transparent, which is why combining them is unremarkable. "ankommen" and "umkommen" are almost arbitrarily different in meaning, so combining both in one phrase exhibits the sharp alteration in viewpoint that is the definition of humour. – Kilian Foth Aug 02 '18 at 06:39