Read the line from Act II of The Importance of Being Earnest. Cecily. It is always painful to part from people whom one has known for a very brief space of time.

An epigram is a brief, witty statement that expresses an unexpected or pointed idea. Cecily’s remark is amusing because it suggests that parting can be especially painful even when the people have known each other only briefly. The line is an epigram, not merely an understatement or a pun.

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