Title: Metaphor Lesson
Course: Science Fiction: Dune > Section: Book II

Question: What Is a Metaphor?

Some people think of metaphors as nothing more than the sweet stuff of songs and poems--Love is a jewel, or a rose, or a butterfly. But in fact all of us speak and write and think in metaphors every day. They can't be avoided: metaphors are built right into our language.

Here we'll take a look at some of the different kinds of metaphors, with examples drawn from advertisements, poems, essays, songs, and TV programs.

Answer:

A metaphor, as defined in our glossary, is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something important in common. The word metaphor itself is a metaphor, coming from a Greek word meaning to "transfer" or "carry across." Metaphors "carry" meaning from one word, image, or idea to another.

When Dr. Gregory House (in the TV series House, M.D.) says, "I'm a night owl, Wilson's an early bird. We're different species," he's speaking metaphorically. When Dr. Cuddy replies, "Then move him into his own cage," she's extending House's bird metaphor--which he caps off with the remark, "Who'll clean the droppings from mine?"

Calling a person a "night owl" or an "early bird" is an example of a common (or conventional) metaphor--one that most native speakers will readily understand. Let's look at some of the different ways a single conventional metaphor can be used.

Conventional Metaphors

Some metaphors are so common that we may not even notice that they are metaphors. Take the familiar metaphor of life as a journey, for example. We find it in advertising slogans:

- "Life is a journey, travel it well."
(United Airlines)

- "Life is a journey. Enjoy the Ride."
(Nissan)

- "Life is a journey. Enjoy the ride with a GM reward card."
(General Motors)

More Examples of Metaphors

In Using Similes and Metaphors to Enrich Our Writing, we consider how these figures of speech are more than just ornaments or decorative accessories. Metaphors are also ways of thinking, offering our readers (and ourselves) fresh ways of examining ideas and viewing the world.

Study the metaphors collected here.

- "Brave actions never want a trumpet."
(Thomas Fuller)

- "Time, you thief"
(Leigh Hunt, "Rondeau")

- "Before I met my husband, I'd never fallen in love. I'd stepped in it a few times."
(Rita Rudner)

Nordquist, Richard. "What is a metaphor?" Grammar. About.com. 25 Nov. 2008 <http://grammar.about.com/od/qaaboutrhetoric/f/faqmetaphor07.htm>.