Aposiopesis Examples

Aposiopesis is when a statement is ended abruptly, without being finished. A character or speaker does not finish the thought. This could be because the character fears speaking the thought aloud, or because the character is carried away with excitement and moves on to the next thought without finishing the first.

From The Wizard of Oz:

Almira Gulch, just because you own half the county doesn't mean that you have the power to run the rest of us. For 23 years I've been dying to tell you what I thought of you! And now--well, being a Christian woman, I can't say it!

From The Adventures of Tom Sawyer:

She looked perplexed for a moment, and then said, not fiercely, but still loud enough for the furniture to hear: "'Well, I lay if I get hold of you I'll--'

"She did not finish, for by this time she was bending down and punching under the bed with the broom.

From a speech by Rush Limbaugh:

At this juncture I want to get into -- By the way I was told to give you some advice about the media. You don't know how small I feel giving you advice, but I'll be glad to anyway since I've been asked to

From Top Gun:

The MiG-28 does have a problem with its inverted flight tanks. It won't do a Negative G push over. The latest intelligence tells us that the most it will do is one negative -- Excuse me, Lieutenant, is there something wrong?