Syllepsis: An unfought battle in the language wars

Syllepsis (in one meaning of the term) is most commonly thought of as an ungrammatical construction which can in certain contexts function as a figure of speech. Yet the common view is at odds with syllepsis occurring in well-written prose that we experience neither as ungrammatical nor as figurative; and with its being largely ignored by literary and rhetorical analysis. As well as arguing against the common view, the paper considers why the view is so uncontroversial, so common.