List of English-language metaphors: Difference between revisions

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*[[800-pound gorilla]]

*[[Albatross (metaphor)]]

*[[Song bird (metaphor)]]{{cn|date=July 2022}}

*[[Belling the cat]]

*[[Blind men and an elephant]]

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*[[Chicken or the egg]]

*[[Dead cat bounce]]

*[[Duck trick]]{{cn|date=July 2022}}

*[[Elephant in the room]]

*[[Beating a dead horse]]

*[[Four Asian Tigers]]

*[[His Eye is on the Sparrow]]

*[[False start|Jumping the gun]]

*[[Letting the cat out of the bag]]

*[[Mama grizzly]]

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*[[Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?]]

*[[You have two cows]]

*[[Shaving a cat with no hair]]{{cn|date=July 2022}}

*[[Put stamp on it]]

*[[The pants are already ironed]]

==Body parts==

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*[[Cold feet]]

*[[Heart (symbol)]]

*[[Kansas Burrito]]

*[[Kansas Nugget]]

==Nautical==

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* ''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 [[Gunwale|gunwales]]''

* ''Back and fill''

* ''On one's beam ends''

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* ''Flying the flag''

* ''Plain sailing''

* ''[[With flying colours|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.<ref name=Jeans/>

* ''In the [[Intertropical Convergence Zone|doldrums]]''

* ''All hands to the pumps''

* ''Weathering a storm''

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}}</ref>

*''[[Yard (sailing)#"Sun over the yardarm"|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 [[Depth sounding|soundings]]": In suspected shallow waters, a crew member may have the task of repeatedly throwing into the water a [[lead line (nautical)|lead line]], or piece of lead tied to a string knotted every fathom, for the purpose of estimating the depth of the sea.<ref name="reg34">{{cite web

| title = Regulation 34 - Safe Navigation

| url = https://mcanet.mcga.gov.uk/public/c4/solas/solas_v/Regulations/regulation34.htm

| work = IMO RESOLUTION A.893(21) adopted on 25 November 1999

| accessdate=March 26, 2007}}</ref> 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|date=December 2008}}

* "By and large" comes from a term for sailing a ship slightly off of the wind.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2001-04-18 |title=What is the origin of "by and large"? [http|url=https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/190821343048/what-is-the-origin-of-by-and-large] |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=The Straight Dope |language=en}}</ref>

* "To the bitter end" may have originally referred to a rope fastened to the ''[[Bitts|bitt]]'', a post attached on the deck of a ship.[http,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-11 |title=The Bitter End - Meaning & Origin Of The Phrase |url=https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/65800the-bitter-end.html], |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=Phrase Finder |language=en-gb}}</ref> although this etymology has been disputed.<ref>{{Cite [httpweb |last=Quinion |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Quinion |date=2009-11-12 |title=Bitter end |url=https://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-bit1.htm] |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=World Wide Words |language=en-gb}}</ref>

==Objects==

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* {{cite book |title= Ship of state: the nautical metaphors of Thomas Jefferson : with numerous examples by other writers from classical antiquity to the present |last= Miller |first= Charles A. |authorlink= Charles A. Miller (political scientist) | year= 2003 |publisher= University Press of America |___location= Lanham, MD |isbn= 978-0-7618-2516-6 }}

* {{cite journal |author1=Milligan, Christopher S. |author2=Smith, David C. | title=Language from the Sea: Discovering the Meaning and Origin of Nautical Metaphors| journal=English Quarterly| year=1997| volume=28| issue=4| pages=36–40}}

* {{cite web |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/indoc_term.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060603020707/http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/indoc_term.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 3, 2006 |title=Service Jargon |author=Naval Air Station Jacksonville |date=1942 |work= 9780070328778A-V(S) Indoctrination School |publisher=Department of the Navy |accessdate=June 17, 2010}}

[[Category:Metaphors]]