Questions tagged [metaphors]
A *metaphor* is a figure of speech which compares something with another, generally unrelated thing by virtue of certain shared characteristics: *Shall I Compare Thee to a summer’s Day*.
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What does "vultures on someone's shoulder" mean?
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4745539-fetterman-defends-biden-debate-performance/
says
“I refuse to join the Democratic vultures on Biden’s shoulder after
the debate. No one knows more than me ...
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Is "let loose" better than "let slip", when it comes to "dogs"?
Fromkin's Introduction to Linguistics says:
Language purists sometimes rail against back-formations and cite enthuse and
liaise [from enthusiasm and liaison) as examples of language corruption. ...
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What is the meaning of "in the knee of somewhere"? Is it a common phrase in English?
I'm reading an article on Wikipedia and saw a sentence "Martigny-Ville in the knee of Valais". I understand every single word in this sentence, but just can't understand the whole sentence.
...
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What's the actual meaning of "sits down to a banquet of consequences" in this sentence?
Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences.
— Robert Louis Stevenson
I don't find any relevant definition for the phrasal verb "sits down". And what's the thought ...
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What does "pill" mean here? [closed]
https://nixos.org/guides/nix-pills/why-you-should-give-it-a-try#id1337 says:
Just as with pills, I'll try to be as short as possible.
What does "pill" mean here?
Is it a metaphor for ...
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Is labeling a numerical quantity "high," as opposed to "large," metaphorical, conventional, or technical?
Why do we say "high frequency" and "high IQ" instead of "large frequency" or "large IQ"? Are these spatial metaphors? Are they just examples of language ...
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All we knit is love meaning
What does the following sentence means:
"all we knit is love"
Is it a famous metaphor?
Thank you.
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Is "development(al) journey" a common metaphor in English, or is there a more idiomatic expression?
As the heading suggests, I'm wondering whether "development(al) journey" is a common metaphor in English, or whether there is a more idiomatic expression for this. Neither NGrams nor google ...
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Can you "call in sick" via an email? Is it a metaphor?
Let's call in sick today for the office
Is this sentence correct? The intention is to take sick leave at work. Is using "call in" a metaphor? Because we usually write an email or send a ...
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Would "I ate food." be a correct way of referring simply to the daily life thing of "I had breakfast, lunch, dinner."?
Imagine, it was a holiday for 7 days, so students did not go to school. And now, you see one of them today and ask him (he is a non-native speaker):
- What did you do during all these 7 days?
- I ...
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Explaining the metaphor in a sentence
Am I making a metaphor by saying that? "Beirut: The Strong Lady Lives"
Can you explain this issue, please? Thanks in advanced
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What is the semicolon's role here?
In this following context, how does the semi-colon play? Should it not be colon (:) or emdash (—) here? And I thought the phrase ''a ceaseless heaving of waves up and down'' may be metaphor. So I ...
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Is star walking a metonymy of space walking?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYsz1hP0BFo
Is star walking a metonymy of space walking? In the lyrics, we see "star walking", but it doesn't make sense, so I was wondering if it was a ...
user88427
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"London Bridge is down" used as metaphor [closed]
Any Brit probably knows the meaning, now I (as a German) too. RIP Elizabeth II.
Has the phrase ever been used metaphorically ("the Queen is dead"; maybe by extension: "Anarchy will ...
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Is 'neon' used in daily life to refer to modern things?
The words '新世紀' in the name of the anime '新世紀エヴァンゲリオン'(Neon Genesis Evangelion) means 'new era' literally, but in its English name, 'neon genesis' is used metaphorically.
A similar situation can be ...
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What does Chaos Tax mean?
It's from the Wall Street Journal article.
Twitter Employees Face ‘Chaos Tax’
I understand that the article describes Tweeter in chaotic situation. But I can't guess what chaos tax implies exactly. ...
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idiom to express the feeling of being in-between two worlds
I'm looking for an expression that would connote the state of being in-between.
I have found one sentence which uses the "one foot in, one foot out" metaphore - does it sound naturally to a ...
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What's the metaphorical meaning of "off-ramp"?
Example:
Blinken said the US had sought to provide off-ramps to the Russian leader, but “every time there's been an opportunity to” take them, “he's pressed the accelerator and continued down this ...
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The Meaning of "Sat at The Head of The Party"
What's the meaning of sat at the head of the party
Gandalf sat at the head of the party with the thirteen dwarves all round: and Bilbo sat on a stool at the fireside, nibbling at a biscuit (his ...
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What does the slang expression “a doozy of an 𝓧” mean?
I’ve understood the meaning of the word doozy from the Is a "doozy" a good or bad thing? question. But what does this here sentence mean?
It’s going to be a doozy of a black eye.
Is this a ...
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What does barren eyes mean?
https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Moorish_Poetry/qEo7AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22barren+eyes%22+poem&pg=PA73&printsec=frontcover
Will they not believe my sighs
Rather than my barren ...
user88427
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What is the meaning of "the gnawed tunnel of life right up to this uneasy intermission" in this context?
I encountered the boldfaced expression while reading, and would like to know what it means:
He lay still and considered sleep. But it was a tantalizingly evasive
subject.
Think about women then or ...
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"shoals of immigrants" Is this a correct usage of a metaphor?
Although the onset of the problems of climate change may seem
minuscule and peculiar to some poor regions in the world, the
long-term repercussions of such a trend will be evident in a
not-too-distant ...
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Need a metaphor - "Your problem will disappear like smoke in air " [closed]
Your problem will disappear like smoke in air.
Is this an appropriate metaphor?
Santosh
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What type of earth material is the author talking about?
"He (the giant king) would have liked to tame the very fire at the heart of the earth if he could in order to make the pillars for his throne room."
And what does "tame...the heart of ...
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Avoid Repetition of to be verb
Is the following sentence idiomatic?
This running cloud is my grandfather, that cloud my father and that big one my tired mother.
user133658
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Meaning of "lit from behind through a cloud of metallic steam" and "strain a person’s sense ... " [closed]
They stopped on a rising note. Dexter was standing in the bathroom
doorway, holding Billy by the hand, lit from behind through a cloud of
metallic steam.
‘Some things, Morty,’ he said, ‘strain a ...
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Having doubt in a couple of metaphorical statements
I am having slight doubt with a couple of metaphorical statements. A slight assistance will be most welcome.
1."The insatiable desire to breakout becomes the carnival of the oppressed, an iconic ...
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What is the correct interpretation of the bold part? [closed]
Does the bold part here mean "so you are in fact not know about the ballerinas digging up the locked cabinet in the dark, even though you know about being in the darkness/ being in the night”?
...
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Is "break X at the seams" a metaphor, or something else?
The Mariana crow actually uses its bill to peck and break the shell at
the seams to extract the vulnerable crab.
https://corvidresearch.blog/tag/extinct-crow/
I was told it wasn't an idiom, so I am ...
user88427
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Regarding a metaphor "Old Nick is not just lurking in the small print,"
Reading this article, there is a saying,
Andrew Stuttaford
Sat, May 1, 2021, 11:29 PM
The devil is in the details, and while, when it comes to the Biden tax plan, Old Nick is not just lurking in the ...
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What does "lifeline" mean in this context?
I know, that "lifeline" is:
a thing on which someone or something depends or which provides a means of escape from a difficult situation.
a rope or line used for life-saving, typically one ...
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What does "...asking for the sun, the moon and stars" mean?
I watched a video and encountered an unfamiliar idiom.
0:50 It's not like we're asking for the sun, the moon and stars.
This is a comment made by union worker who is negotiation with his employer.
I ...
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“[NOUN] in veins” eg. “MUSICIAN in veins” meaning
Phrase: "Musician in veins"
Is it correct? Can it be misinterpreted? Is it easily understandable for english speaking person? How do YOU understand it?
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The shadows ahead
"High above this quagmire of violence rise the sunny plateaus of Eden, casting their shadows before."
The wording is meant deliberately ambiguous.
It opens a paragraph about a group of ...
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Usage of metaphor indicating repetitious occurence of bad things
I intend to use the metaphor tempest-toosed upon life's billows in the sentence below. Would the usage of the preceding metaphor sound awkward to the english native speaker? Or is there any other ...
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What kind of "effect" is it when something has ended but temporarily affects still?
Consider a situation where a circumstance causes an effect. Once the circumstance changes or vanishes, the effect is expected to cease. In certain cases, the observable effect continues to transpire, ...
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What does "return to the well" mean in these sentences?
Context 1: "I remember pa's hand in mine. Grasping and shaking for what felt like a thousand years...before he finally let go. His spirit released, allowing me brief communion before returning to ...
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Is "sailed into" used as metaphor?
I am using this "glance" app. Every day some special wallpaper shows up on my homescreen. I bumped into this line:
On this day: Titanic sailed into cinemas.
Is "sailed into" used ...
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May good health envelop you, spurring a quick recovery
Is there anything wrong with the following sentence?
Is the metaphor "envelop you" used correctly?
May good health envelop you, spurring a quick recovery.
I'd appreciate your help.
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In History's Unmarked Grave of Discarded Lies
I have been trying to google the meaning of the above mentioned sentence which was spoken by the US President George Bush when he was addressing the joint-congress after 9/11 attack.
I'll just ...
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Why is 10th May called an 'autumn day' in South Africa?
In Nelson Mandela's autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, 10th May is referred to as an autumn day. Mandela writes: "On that lovely autumn day (10th May) I was accompanied by my daughter Zenani.&...
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Is "slip of an object" a personification?
On an ordinary day, you might miss this slip of a shop wedged between a veterinary clinic and a grocery store in Paris' popular Bastille.
NPR: The Last Razor Repairman In Paris
a young and slender ...
user88427
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What does "testing the water with another's daughter" in these lyrics mean?
The British band Maccabees has a song called No kind words which has the following lines:
Dear friend of mine is testing his body
Tempting disaster
Testing water with another's daughter
The last ...
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White whale metaphor
I’m translating an english book in my native language and here is a metaphor I’ve never heard ; the sentence is :
My personal white whale, author Neil gaiman .
What does white whale mean here ?
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What on earth could this metaphor imply?
Reading this article (emphasis mine), there are 2 lines,
Chinese media have also singled out Matt Pottinger, a deputy national security adviser who delivered a direct appeal to the people of China —...
user17814
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unusual usage of bellowing
Explosions shook the ground, artillery shells, mortars and bombs
continuously rained down, fires blazed, and smoke bellowed high into
the sky.
Doesn't bellowing mean "make a loud sound"? If that'...
user88427
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Idiom using the metaphore of "shouting in the dark" & English equivalent
In Czech, we say something is a "shout in the dark" when you do something without expecting it to fulfill the purpose (usually, it's used when someone is pushing for a change and gets no response). Is ...
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What does “hangs a cloud of thoughts…” mean?
I want to know what this sentence means; particularly the part that says "hangs a cloud of thoughts":
About what goes on today hangs a cloud of thoughts concerning similar
things undergone in ...
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Why does the lecturer think the Famous Panda is **delicious**?
The lecturer is saying
you
do face the same problem of missing
context in any language like the famous
Panda who goes to a restaurant and eats
shoots and leaves and they were both
...
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