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A list of metaphors in the English language organised alphabetically by type. A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g.,
The best things in life are free; The bigger they are, the harder they fall; The boy is father to the man; The bread never falls but on its buttered side; The child is the father of the man; The cobbler always wears the worst shoes; The comeback is greater than the setback; The course of true love never did run smooth
These are not merely catchy sayings. Even though some sources may identify a phrase as a catchphrase, this list is for those that meet the definition given in the lead section of the catchphrase article and are notable for their widespread use within the culture. This list is distinct from the list of political catchphrases.
With an inexact metaphor, however, a metaphier might have associated attributes or nuances – its paraphiers – that enrich the metaphor because they "project back" to the metaphrand, potentially creating new ideas – the paraphrands – associated thereafter with the metaphrand or even leading to a new metaphor. For example, in the metaphor ...
Examples [ edit ] There is a common motif in Russian folk tales , where a vityaz (Russian knight ) comes to a fork in the road and sees a menhir with an inscription that reads: "If you ride to the left, you will lose your horse, if you ride to the right, you will lose your head".
Coleridge. While the earliest documented use of the expression remains somewhat nebulous, it is generally regarded as having been coined by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, with one scholar noting an earlier reference to "birds and bees" on columns in St. Peter's Basilica from a 1644 entry in the diary of English writer John Evelyn. [2]
An idiom is a common word or phrase with a figurative, non-literal meaning that is understood culturally and differs from what its composite words' denotations would suggest; i.e. the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words (although some idioms do retain their literal meanings – see the example "kick the bucket" below).
Metaphors We Live By is a book by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson published in 1980. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] The book suggests metaphor is a tool that enables people to use what they know about their direct physical and social experiences to understand more abstract things like work, time, mental activity and feelings.