What is a metaphor?
A metaphor is a figure of speech or rhetorical figure. The rhetorical figures are divided into tropes, which use language in a way that goes beyond literal sense, and the schemes, which use language literally, but employ particular arrangements that have proved effective. Metaphor is an example of a trope. Metaphor is often defined in contrast to simile, another figure of speech, because they are both figures that deal with comparison. Whereas a simile is a comparison that is explicitly stated using a word such as like or as, a metaphor is a comparison that literally states that one thing is another, and requires the reader or listener to perceive that this is not a factual statement, but one that must be figuratively interpreted. So, while a simile might say “O, my Luve’s like a red, red rose,” a metaphor would say, “O, my Luve’s a red, red rose,” — to misquote Robert Burns — and leave it to the reader to work out. A second difference between metaphor and simile is that metaphor can b
A metaphor is defined as a figure of speech, or something that we use to replace “normal” words in order to help others understand or enjoy our message. For example, we use the phrase “a blanket of snow” to describe a snowfall that covers the ground evenly, as if the snow were a fabric. The popular software “Windows” is named for the rectangular units that show information in much the same way as the windows on our houses allow us to look outside in different directions and see different things. When you see a word that substitutes the real word one would use, it’s probably a metaphor.After time, a metaphor gets used so often that it is no longer treated figuratively. When this happens, we call it a “dead metaphor”. One can always debate whether a metaphor is “living” or “dead” because there’s something very special – very personal about the metaphor. You see, a living metaphor reaches into some other part of our personal understanding in order to work: if we must form a “conceptual br
A. A metaphor is a story that appears to mean one thing on the surface, yet also has a deeper, hidden/veiled meaning that speaks to our subconscious mind. Jesus spoke in parables. Parable is another term for metaphor. Fairytales and fables are metaphors. Hidden within its story, a fairytale has a moral or message in disguise that speaks to the subconscious mind of the child who hears it. An example is “The Ugly Duckling,” the well-known tale about a baby swan who mistakenly is raised with a family of ducks. The baby swan looks ugly to the baby ducks and they tease it. The young swan feels different, out of place, and sad. But in the end, when it grows to maturity, it finds its real place in the world in the company of other swans. The maturing swan eventually realizes its own true beauty. Below the surface of the story, the metaphor gives many positive messages to the child, such as: It’s okay to be different. Others may tease you and call you ugly, but this is because they do not unde
