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List of English-language metaphors

December 15, 2023

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., "Her eyes were glistening jewels". Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via association, comparison or resemblance. In this broader sense, antithesis, hyperbole, metonymy and simile would all be considered types of metaphor. Aristotle used both this sense and the regular, current sense above.[1] With metaphor, unlike analogy, specific interpretations are not given explicitly.

Animals edit

Body parts edit

Nautical edit

See also: Glossary of nautical terms
  • Taken aback, on a sailing vessel the sails were 'taken aback' when the wind was unintentionally blowing on the wrong side of the sails causing a potentially dangerous situation. Later used to indicate a difficult or unexpected situation.[2]
  • Batten down the hatches, to secure the hatch covers against ingress of water in preparation for a storm or other rough conditions.
  • Clear the decks to get everything out of the way as a warship went into action.[2]
  • Show someone the ropes to show or explain to someone how to do a task or operation. Taken from the use of ropes to orient and adjust the sails, and that each rope is belayed at a specific place.
  • Sail close to the wind is to operate hazardously on very slim margins, usually applied in a financial sense. Derived from the practice of sailing close to the direction of the oncoming wind, where a small shift in the wrong direction could set the vessel aback.
  • Loaded to the gunwales
  • Back and fill
  • On one's beam ends
  • Awash
  • Adrift
  • A wide berth
  • Flagship
  • Unmoored
  • Nail one's colors to the mast, to commit completely to a course of action, as striking the colors is no longer an option
  • Flying the flag
  • Plain sailing
  • With flying colors - the colors was the national flag flown at sea during battle, a ship would surrender by lowering the colors and the term is now used to indicate a triumphant victory or win.[2]
  • In the doldrums
  • All hands to the pumps
  • Weathering a storm
  • A different tack
  • Swinging the lead is to avoid duty by feigning illness or injury, original a confusion between Swing the leg which related to the way dogs can run on three legs to gain sympathy and the sailor's term heaving the lead which was to take soundings.[2]
  • Left high and dry
  • Three sheets to the wind, meaning "staggering drunk," refers to a ship whose sheets have come loose, causing the sails to flap uncontrolled and the ship to meander at the mercy of the elements. Also, "Three sheets in the wind, unsteady from drink."[3]
  • Sun over the yardarm: This phrase is widely used, both afloat and ashore, to indicate that the time of day has been reached at which it is acceptable to have lunch or (more commonly) to have an alcoholic beverage.
  • "Take soundings": In suspected shallow waters, a crew member may have the task of repeatedly throwing into the water a lead line, or piece of lead tied to a string knotted every fathom, for the purpose of estimating the depth of the sea.[4] This saying the nautical equivalent of "Take the lay of the land": see how things are going, or see what people think about a proposed course of action.[citation needed]
  • "By and large" comes from a term for sailing a ship slightly off of the wind [1]
  • "To the bitter end" may have originally referred to a rope fastened to the bitt, a post attached on the deck of a ship.[2], although this etymology has been disputed [3]

Objects edit

People edit

Places edit

Science edit

Richard Honeck described three forms of scientific metaphors: "mixed scientific metaphor, the scientific metaphor theme, and the scientific metaphor that redefines a concept from a theory."[5]

Sport edit

Various edit

War edit

Lists edit

References edit

  1. ^ The Oxford Companion to the English Language (1992) pp.653–55: "A rhetorical figure with two senses, both originating with Aristotle in the 4c BC: (I) All figures of speech that achieve their effects through association, comparison and resemblance. Figures like antithesis, hyperbole, metonymy and simile are [in that sense] all species of metaphor. [But] this sense is not current, ..."
  2. ^ a b c d Jeans, Peter D (1998). Ship to Shore. Oxford, England: ABC-Clio. ISBN 1-85109-321-4.
  3. ^ Smyth, William Henry; Belcher, Edward (1867). The sailor's word-book: An alphabetical digest of nautical terms, including some more especially military and scientific ... as well as archaisms of early voyagers, etc. London: Blackie and Son. pp. 680, 121.
  4. ^ "Regulation 34 - Safe Navigation". IMO RESOLUTION A.893(21) adopted on 25 November 1999. Retrieved March 26, 2007.
  5. ^ Honeck, Richard P. (1980) Cognition and figurative language pp.405-417
Further reading
  • Isil, Olivia A. (1966). When a loose cannon flogs a dead horse there's the devil to pay: seafaring words in everyday speech. Camden ME: International Marine. ISBN 978-0-07-032877-8.
  • Miller, Charles A. (2003). Ship of state: the nautical metaphors of Thomas Jefferson : with numerous examples by other writers from classical antiquity to the present. Lanham, MD: University Press of America. ISBN 978-0-7618-2516-6.
  • Milligan, Christopher S.; Smith, David C. (1997). "Language from the Sea: Discovering the Meaning and Origin of Nautical Metaphors". English Quarterly. 28 (4): 36–40.
  • Naval Air Station Jacksonville (1942). "Service Jargon". 9780070328778A-V(S) Indoctrination School. Department of the Navy. Retrieved June 17, 2010.

December 15, 2023
list, english, language, metaphors, list, metaphors, english, language, organised, alphabetically, type, metaphor, literary, figure, speech, that, uses, image, story, tangible, thing, represent, less, tangible, thing, some, intangible, quality, idea, eyes, wer. 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 Her eyes were glistening jewels Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via association comparison or resemblance In this broader sense antithesis hyperbole metonymy and simile would all be considered types of metaphor Aristotle used both this sense and the regular current sense above 1 With metaphor unlike analogy specific interpretations are not given explicitly Contents 1 Animals 2 Body parts 3 Nautical 4 Objects 5 People 6 Places 7 Science 8 Sport 9 Various 10 War 11 Lists 12 ReferencesAnimals edit800 pound gorilla Albatross metaphor Song bird metaphor citation needed Belling the cat Blind men and an elephant Boiling frog Butterfly effect Camel s nose Canary in the coal mine Chicken or the egg Dead cat bounce Duck trick citation needed Elephant in the room Beating a dead horse Four Asian Tigers His Eye is on the Sparrow Letting the cat out of the bag Mama grizzly Monkey see monkey do Ostrich effect Reverse ferret Seeing pink elephants The Sheep and the Goats Snake venom Spherical cow Throw to the wolves Turkeys voting for Christmas Turtles all the way down White elephant Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel You have two cows Shaving a cat with no hair citation needed Body parts editBroken heart Cold feet Heart symbol Nautical editSee also Glossary of nautical terms Taken aback on a sailing vessel the sails were taken aback when the wind was unintentionally blowing on the wrong side of the sails causing a potentially dangerous situation Later used to indicate a difficult or unexpected situation 2 Batten down the hatches to secure the hatch covers against ingress of water in preparation for a storm or other rough conditions Clear the decks to get everything out of the way as a warship went into action 2 Show someone the ropes to show or explain to someone how to do a task or operation Taken from the use of ropes to orient and adjust the sails and that each rope is belayed at a specific place Sail close to the wind is to operate hazardously on very slim margins usually applied in a financial sense Derived from the practice of sailing close to the direction of the oncoming wind where a small shift in the wrong direction could set the vessel aback Loaded to the gunwales Back and fill On one s beam ends Awash Adrift A wide berth Flagship Unmoored Nail one s colors to the mast to commit completely to a course of action as striking the colors is no longer an option Flying the flag Plain sailing With flying colors the colors was the national flag flown at sea during battle a ship would surrender by lowering the colors and the term is now used to indicate a triumphant victory or win 2 In the doldrums All hands to the pumps Weathering a storm A different tack Swinging the lead is to avoid duty by feigning illness or injury original a confusion between Swing the leg which related to the way dogs can run on three legs to gain sympathy and the sailor s term heaving the lead which was to take soundings 2 Left high and dry Three sheets to the wind meaning staggering drunk refers to a ship whose sheets have come loose causing the sails to flap uncontrolled and the ship to meander at the mercy of the elements Also Three sheets in the wind unsteady from drink 3 Sun over the yardarm This phrase is widely used both afloat and ashore to indicate that the time of day has been reached at which it is acceptable to have lunch or more commonly to have an alcoholic beverage Take soundings In suspected shallow waters a crew member may have the task of repeatedly throwing into the water a lead line or piece of lead tied to a string knotted every fathom for the purpose of estimating the depth of the sea 4 This saying the nautical equivalent of Take the lay of the land see how things are going or see what people think about a proposed course of action citation needed By and large comes from a term for sailing a ship slightly off of the wind 1 To the bitter end may have originally referred to a rope fastened to the bitt a post attached on the deck of a ship 2 although this etymology has been disputed 3 Objects editBig red button Brass ring Brass monkey Bucket brigade Chain reaction Chinese fire drill Cultural mosaic Domino effect Don t judge a book by its cover Holy Grail Inverted pyramid Law of the instrument Melting pot Rosetta Stone Silver bullet Snowball effect Soapbox Zanata Stone A big chair A sailboatPeople editAunt Sally Cassandra metaphor Copernican Revolution metaphor Hobson s choice Judgment of Solomon Mary Sue Procrustes Whipping boy Aunt Flow Uncle SamPlaces editCrossing the Rubicon wikt crossroads a decision point a turning point or opportunity to change direction course or goal Fork in the road metaphor wikt grey area an area or topic that is not one thing or the other or where the border between two things is fuzzy See also wikt fall between two stools Ground zero Mother lode Plateau effect Podunk Point of no return Slippery slope Walk to CanossaScience editRichard Honeck described three forms of scientific metaphors mixed scientific metaphor the scientific metaphor theme and the scientific metaphor that redefines a concept from a theory 5 1959 Valency linguistics by Lucien Tesniere from Valence chemistry 1789 by William Higgins 1973 Inductor by Deleuze and Guattari from Electromagnetic induction 1831 by Michael Faraday 1980 Rhizome philosophy by Deleuze and Guattari from botanical rhizomeSport editBaseball metaphors for sex Carnoustie effect Doing a Leeds Face off False start Jump the Gun Media scrum Own goal Pole position Political football Par for the courseVarious editAesopian language Apollo archetype Bad apples Battle of egos Betamax Bija Black and white dualism Bootstrapping Cabin fever Cherry picking fallacy China Syndrome City on a Hill Closeted Coming out Drunkard s search Enchanted loom Endianness Fatted calf Five wisdoms Gates of horn and ivory Gold in the mine Gordian Knot Greek to me Green shoots Hue and cry Hungry ghost Indra s net Iron metaphor Jungle Kōan Late bloomer List of scientific metaphors McNamara fallacy Mindstream Moral compass Musical chairs The Myth of Sisyphus Neurathian bootstrap Nutshell Panopticon gaze Pear shaped Post turtle The price of milk Ignoratio elenchi Invincible ignorance fallacy Red pill and blue pill Representation systemics Roof of the World Salad days Salt and Light Ship of state Son of a gun Survival of the fittest Teaching grandmother to suck eggs Technical debt Touchstone metaphor Tragedy of the commons Tunnel vision Unmarked grave Yin and yang New Testament military metaphors New Testament athletic metaphorsWar editCatch 22 logic Double edged sword Dry powder Fog of war No win situation Pyrrhic victory Saber noise Shareholder rights plan Shooting the messenger Smoking gun Texas sharpshooter fallacy War chest Win win gameLists editList of political metaphors Category Political metaphors referring to people Category Metaphors by referenceReferences edit The Oxford Companion to the English Language 1992 pp 653 55 A rhetorical figure with two senses both originating with Aristotle in the 4c BC I All figures of speech that achieve their effects through association comparison and resemblance Figures like antithesis hyperbole metonymy and simile are in that sense all species of metaphor But this sense is not current a b c d Jeans Peter D 1998 Ship to Shore Oxford England ABC Clio ISBN 1 85109 321 4 Smyth William Henry Belcher Edward 1867 The sailor s word book An alphabetical digest of nautical terms including some more especially military and scientific as well as archaisms of early voyagers etc London Blackie and Son pp 680 121 Regulation 34 Safe Navigation IMO RESOLUTION A 893 21 adopted on 25 November 1999 Retrieved March 26 2007 Honeck Richard P 1980 Cognition and figurative language pp 405 417 Further readingIsil Olivia A 1966 When a loose cannon flogs a dead horse there s the devil to pay seafaring words in everyday speech Camden ME International Marine ISBN 978 0 07 032877 8 Miller Charles A 2003 Ship of state the nautical metaphors of Thomas Jefferson with numerous examples by other writers from classical antiquity to the present Lanham MD University Press of America ISBN 978 0 7618 2516 6 Milligan Christopher S Smith David C 1997 Language from the Sea Discovering the Meaning and Origin of Nautical Metaphors English Quarterly 28 4 36 40 Naval Air Station Jacksonville 1942 Service Jargon 9780070328778A V S Indoctrination School Department of the Navy Retrieved June 17 2010 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title List of English language metaphors amp oldid 1129576448, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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