Metaphor facts for kids
A
A metaphor is a special way of using words. It's a figure of speech. When you use a metaphor, you don't use a word in its normal, everyday meaning. Instead, you use it to compare two different things. But it doesn't use words like "like" or "as." If it used "like" or "as," it would be a simile.
Metaphors help us create a picture in our minds. They take a word from its usual setting and use it in a new one.
- "I beat him with a stick" means hitting someone. This is the normal meaning of 'beat'.
- "I beat him in an argument" means you won the argument. This is a metaphorical meaning of 'beat'.
Metaphors are a huge part of how we speak and write. We use them all the time, often without even noticing! For example, the word "run" usually means moving quickly on your feet. But we also say a river "runs," or a machine "runs." These are all metaphors.
Often, a metaphor uses the verb 'to be'. For example, "love is war." This is a metaphor. If you said "love is like war," that would be a simile. Poetry often uses many metaphors, usually more than regular writing (prose).
Think about "Spam" email. This word started as a metaphor. It came from 'Spam', a type of canned meat. People thought unwanted emails filling up your inbox were like waiters forcing unwanted Spam food on you. This idea came from a funny Monty Python TV show scene. When we use a metaphor so much that we forget its original meaning, it's called a 'dead metaphor'.
The word metaphor itself comes from an old Greek word meaning 'transfer'. It combines meta ('beyond') and pherein ('carry'). So, the English word metaphor is actually a metaphor too! In modern Greek, metaphor means a trolley – something you push to carry things.
- Many metaphors are about ideas. These are called conceptual metaphors.
- Idioms often use metaphors. For example, the English phrase to kick the bucket means to die.
Contents
Simple Metaphors
What They Are
A simple metaphor connects two things directly. It takes one clear meaning and transfers it to something else. It's easy to understand.
Examples
- Cool down! (Here, 'cool' means calm, not temperature.)
- He was mad. (Here, 'mad' means angry.)
- I'll chew on it. (Here, 'chew' means think about it.)
- It was raining cats and dogs. (Here, 'cats and dogs' means very heavy rain.)
- Max was an angel. (Here, 'angel' means a very kind person.)
Simple metaphors are easy for most people to understand. They don't require a lot of thought to figure out the meaning.
Complex Metaphors
What They Are
A complex metaphor builds on a simple metaphor. It adds another layer of meaning. For example, if 'light' means 'understanding', a complex metaphor might say 'throwing light' instead of just 'shining light'. 'Throwing' adds another idea about how the understanding arrives.
Examples
- That lends weight to the argument. (Here, 'weight' means importance, and 'lends' adds to the idea of giving that importance.)
- They stood alone, frozen statues on the plain. (Here, 'statues' means still, and 'frozen' adds to that stillness.)
- The ball happily danced into the net. (Here, 'danced' means moved smoothly, and 'happily' adds a feeling to the movement.)
- "But at my back I always hear /
Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near /
And yonder all before us lie /
Deserts of vast eternity".
From 17th century English poet Andrew Marvell's poem To His Coy Mistress. (Time is a chariot, and it has wings, making it faster and more urgent.)
Compound Metaphors
What They Are
A compound metaphor uses several parts to create its meaning. These parts can be extra words like adverbs or adjectives. Each part adds another layer of meaning to the metaphor.
Examples
- Thick, primal, blind fog descended before his eyes. (Here, 'fog' means confusion, and 'thick', 'primal', and 'blind' add more details to that confusion.)
- The car screeched in hated anguish, its flesh laid bare in the raucous collision. (Here, the car is given human feelings like 'hated anguish' and 'flesh', making the crash seem more violent and painful.)
Compound metaphors hit the listener with many metaphorical ideas. While complex metaphors stack layers, compound metaphors use words in a sequence. They are also sometimes called loose metaphors.
Live and Dead Metaphors
A live metaphor is one that a reader or listener notices and thinks about. A dead metaphor is one that has become so common in language that people don't even realize it's a metaphor anymore.
Examples
Imagine two people finish a tennis match. Someone asks the loser: "What happened?"
- "He won". This is the literal truth.
- "He beat me". This is a dead metaphor. We don't think of hitting someone.
- "He thrashed me". This one is still a bit alive. You might picture a strong defeat.
Here are more examples:
- The river runs. This is a dead metaphor. We don't think of the river having legs.
- Electricity is a fluid. This is nearly a dead metaphor. We often talk about electricity "flowing."
- All our efforts are running into the sand. This is a live metaphor. You can imagine efforts disappearing uselessly.
Related pages
Images for kids
-
A political cartoon from 1894 shows a farm woman, representing the Democratic Party, hiding from a tornado of political change.
See also
In Spanish: Metáfora para niños
