List of English-language metaphors: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|none}}

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 [[tangibility|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 [[rhetoric]]al [[Literal and figurative language|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.<ref name="English Language 1992 pp.653">''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, ..."</ref>

With metaphor, unlike [[analogy]], specific interpretations are not given explicitly.

==Animals==

*[[800 lb-pound gorilla]]

*[[Albatross (metaphor)]]

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

*[[Belling the cat]]

*[[Blind men and an elephant]]

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*[[Butterfly effect]]

*[[Camel's nose]]

*[[Canary in the coal mine]]

*[[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==

{{See also|Glossary of nautical terms}}

* ''Taken aback'', on a square-pingassailing 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.<ref name=Jeans>{{cite book |last=Jeans |first=Peter D |title= Ship to Shore |year=1998 |publisher= ABC-Clio |___location= Oxford, England |isbn= 1-85109-321-4}}</ref>

* ''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.<ref name=Jeans/>

* ''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 techniquepractice 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''

* ''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 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''

* ''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.<ref name=Jeans/>

* ''Left high and dry''

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| ___location = London

| pages = 680, 121

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=y7HqO9XAwk8C&dq=sailor%20beached%20-beaches&lr&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is&num=100&as_brr=4both+sheets+aft&pg=PA121#v=onepage&q=both%20sheets%20aft&f=false

| doi =

| id =

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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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*[[Whipping boy]]

*[[menstruation|Aunt Flow]]

*[[BenedictUncle ArnoldSam]]

==Places==

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==Sport==

*[[Baseball metaphors for sex]]

*[[Carnoustie effect]]

*[[Doing a Leeds]]

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*[[Pole position]]

*[[Political football]]

*[[Par for the course]]

==Various==

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*[[Apollo archetype]]

*[[Bad apples]]

*[[Bad apples excuse]]

*[[Battle of egos]]

*[[Betamax]]

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*[[Endianness]]

*[[Fatted calf]]

*[[Few bad apples]]

*[[Five wisdoms]]

*[[Gates of horn and ivory]]

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*[[Neurathian bootstrap]]

*[[Nutshell]]

*[[One bad apple]]

*[[Panopticon gaze]]

*[[Female body shape|Pear-shaped]]

*[[Post turtle]]

*[[The price of milk]]

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*[[New Testament military metaphors]]

*[[New Testament athletic metaphors]]

*[[Baseball metaphors for sex]]

==War==

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*[[List of political metaphors]]

**[[:Category:Political metaphors referring to people]]

*[[:Category:Metaphors by reference]]

==References==

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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]]