Metaphor

Did you

end up in hospital?

here are some more metaphors...

He's very switched on

bright student

dimwit

prices are rising

skyscrapers

a dirty trick

you might have

noticed that a lot

of insults are

metaphors

which compare

people to animals

old goat

rat

bird

whale

louse

mouse

weasel

bullish

cow

loanshark

beast

snake

sloth

pig

We call these conventional metaphors: the

meaning is obvious and it's old. No one knows

who first used it.

pig = greedy, rolls around in dirt, gross

NOT 'lovely pink skin' or 'clever'

sloth = lazy or slow

NOT 'cute and fluffy'

This metaphor continued to be used long after cannons were scrapped. In World War I, low-ranking soldiers were used as cannon fodder for machine guns. Like the pawns, they were treated like small, worthless pieces in a larger game.

the trees clustered fearfully together

let's recap what

we've learned

a metaphor is

some metaphors

are very old

for example...

a lot of insults are

metaphors

his girlfriend

is such

the END

and

describing people as

dogs is the opposite of

Have you ever

had a

day

when

you

were

really

ON FIRE?

n't

maybe you

really

Don't panic!

I'm not really

on fire!

...not literally.

A way of

putting a

picture or

an idea in

someone

else's head

you might have heard

'he's a pawn in my plan'

like a lightbulb?

so light you can see her

from outer space?

brains dull, need brightening?

new(ish) metaphor

Like a hot air balloon?

in the driving seat

buildings so big they put holes in the sky

in control, in charge

Cannon fodder

covered in mud?

the driver controls where to go in a horse and carriage or a CAR

...an angel

...a pig

personification

is a type of metaphor

where animals or objects

are given human qualities

...a dog

(fodder= animal feed, large numbers of tiny grains)

cannon fodder = low-ranking soldiers, 'fed' to cannons (i.e. killed by cannon fire) in large numbers.

new

metaphor

oh, and those people who think their pets are people

Think Beatrix Potter, Walt Disney, Aesop (Aesop's Fables, the hare and the tortoise, etc) and the child having a screaming fit because someone

pulled the arm off their teddy bear.

the storm raged, furiously

is very similar to

In this, animals are given human qualities, usually in children's cartoons or stories

bright lights

glittering cast

emotions

Anthropomorphism

soft, inviting sands

Personification

a moth to a flame

is from a time where candlelight was common. Moths were drawn to the light

getting so close many were burned.

This metaphor describes a

dangerous fascination.

not candlelight but the glamour and

brilliance of electric light

old metaphor

and

body parts

table legs

armchair

'the smallest worm will turn,

being trodden on' (Henry III)

led on

leading up to

leading in

foot of the bed

head of the table

this gives us the phrase

the worm has turned

Metaphor II

if you want to learn

more about the MAGICAL world of metaphors, see

like this!

this comes from leading a horse on a rope

Both of Shakespeare's metaphors:

wrens taking the place of eagles

and the lowly worm that turns

and fights, describe something

turned upside down...

this is a scythe

(the blade, attached to the biro is VERY sharp... trust me).

Reaping = harvesting

The Grim Reaper does not

harvest wheat, he harvests

people. The Grim Reaper =

the personification of

Death.

remember me?

reaping = cutting down or harvesting wheat

(not with scissors), but with a scythe...

Other abstract ideas are

personified in a similar way

Time waits for no man

Fortune favours the bold

A worshipper of Beauty

well, there's more...