metaphor

(noun)

The use of a word or phrase to refer to something that it isn't, invoking a direct similarity between the word or phrase used and the thing described, but without the words like or as, which would imply a simile.

Related Terms

Examples of metaphor in the following topics:

  • Simile and Metaphor

    • Simile and metaphor are creative ways of making comparisons in your speech.
    • Similes and metaphors are forms of descriptive language that make comparisons.
    • Simile and metaphor are artful ways of speaking to make a comparison.
    • Simile and metaphor are constructed of two parts: the tenor and the vehicle.
    • Differentiate between the use of a simile and metaphor in public speaking

  • Using Humor

    • Two common rhetorical devices used to convey special meaning to an audience are irony and metaphor.
    • The use of metaphor in rhetoric is primarily to convey a new idea or meaning by linking it to an existing idea or meaning with which the audience is already familiar.
    • Linking the new with the old and familiar through the use of metaphor is an excellent tool for introducing new concepts to one's audience.

  • Watching Out for Metaphors

    • But given our definition of an association, thus generalized—the relationship existing when one party's satisfaction is being changed by the actions of another party—we must be careful to note that we are now using terms like "action" metaphorically rather than literally.
    • Indeed, if we talk about "actions" by organizations and other associations, we are implicitly using a lot of other words metaphorically too.
    • We should be very careful not to take metaphorical language of this type too literally.
    • Up to a point, the analogies expressed by metaphors can be useful, but beyond that point they can be extremely misleading.
    • As an example of the dangers of taking political metaphors literally, let us consider the concept of freedom applied not at the micro level but at the macro.

  • Choosing Vivid Words

    • Two of the easiest techniques to add descriptive wording to your speech are simile and metaphor.
    • In a simile, the comparison is made by using the words "like" or "as. " Metaphors, on the other hand, usually compare things directly by using the verb "to be. " These comparisons help to paint a picture in the minds of your audience.
    • For speechwriters, metaphor and simile are like the brushstrokes of an artist, the notes of a melody, or the choreography of a dance — they demonstrate an artistry with language.
    • Poet Laureate, is a master of metaphor.

  • Introduction

    • Information processing (IP) is a cognitive processing theory (see, Ashcraft, 1994).While other theories in this e-book are learning or instructional in nature, IP theory seeks to explain how the mind functions.Learning components such as rehearsal and elaboration are associated with IP; however, most emphasis is placed on understanding how information is processed rather than how learning happens.Another aspect of this theory is that it is explicitly analogous to a computer's processor.The basic IP model has three components: sensory register (SR), short-term memory (STM) or working memory, and long-term memory (LTM).The corresponding components of the computer are input devices or registers, the CPU, and hard drive storage, respectively.This metaphor is superficially valid, but as it is taken to its limits, the mechanical comparison breaks down.However, knowing that this model is a cognitive processing model and knowing that the model is based on an explicit metaphor with a computer is helpful in understanding IP theory.Let's start with the model and an example.As I write this, I see my cup on my desk.Let's follow this image through the system.The model is depicted below and shows the cup being processed.In the narrative that follows, I will refer back to this cup as it is being cognitively processed.

  • Dramaturgy

    • Dramaturgy is a sociological concept developed by Erving Goffman that uses the metaphor of theater to explain human behavior.
    • Developed by American sociologist Erving Goffman in his seminal 1959 text The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, dramaturgy uses the metaphor of theater to explain human behavior.
    • Erving Goffman uses the metaphor of a stage to explain human behavior in everyday life.

  • Deirdre McCloskey

    • Rhetoric, which includes the use of fact, logic, metaphor and story, provides the criterion and framework that guides the development of science.
    • "Each step in economic reasoning, even the reasoning of the official rhetoric, is metaphor.
    • Even "...mathematical theorizing is metaphorical and literary" (McCloskey, 1983, p 505).
    • "Like other arts and sciences, that is, economics uses the whole rhetorical tetrad: fact, logic, metaphor, and story.

  • Types of Operations: Evolving from K, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Grade

    • Do the same operation images, analogies, and metaphors still apply from your previous realizations?

  • Types of Operations: Evolving operations through the K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, & 5th Grade

    • Do the same operation images, analogies, and metaphors still apply from your previous realizations?

  • Network Models of Memory

    • It is more of a metaphor than an actual biological theory, but it is very useful for understanding how neurons fire and wire with each other.
    • Taking its metaphors from the field of computer science, this model stresses the parallel nature of neural processing.