Comments on: Killing Off a Metaphor With a Fresh Coat of Paint

By: What happens when the real-life inspiration for a metaphor dies… > All Aphorisms, All the Time

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:26:25 +0000

[...] here to read/hear the whole [...]

By: Youngun Song

Youngun Song — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 06:46:00 +0000

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:42:00 +0000

It can be used as both a simile and a metaphor. As I wrote, you can also say something is “a Forth Bridge paint job”. Sorry not to mention similes in the post.
As it happens, I am learning Chinese. Maybe that’s affected my understanding of English figures of speech…

By: Airing on The World In Words | audrey quinn audio

Airing on The World In Words | audrey quinn audio — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:07:29 +0000

[...] bonus material!) this week on Patrick Cox‘s podcast, The World in Words. You can hear it here. My piece comes right after the start of the [...]

By: Robert

Robert — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:57:00 +0000

Annis Hopkins in the preceding comment stole my thunder. She is exactly right. Comparisons using the word “like” or “as” are similes, not metaphors. What left me dumbstruck when I heard the story about the Bridge of Forth on the radio yesterday was that neither the print author (a Brit) nor the radio interviewer (an American) had an inkling, apparently, of what they were revealing to millions regarding their lack of knowledge about the basics of their own language. If authors and journalists and “communications majors” are that oblivious, what’s to become of the rest of us? We may as well start learning Chinese now.

By: Annis Hopkins

Annis Hopkins — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 23:32:00 +0000

I enjoyed the piece, of course, being a “word” person myself (38 years as an English teacher), but I was rather struck by the misuse of the word “metaphor”! When we use the words “like” or “as” in setting up a comparison, we’re using a SIMILE, not metaphor. In simplest terms, a metaphor is defined as an implied comparison, whereas a simile is explicit, using the words “like” and “as.” I think it’s important to keep these definitions separate.