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metaphorsandbeyond.bsky.social
Devoted to discovering, identifying, and using uncommonly high quality non-literal comparisons (metaphors, metonymies, similes, analogies, etc.). Send 'em my way! For much, much more go to metaphorsandbeyond dot com.
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Anne Lamott captures the essence of Saturday via her meditation on a baby’s fingers leading to a metaphor; read the whole post, you'll be glad: “This is exactly what we will be doing on Saturday: knitting a peaceful resistance to dictatorship, to the politics of cruelty.” Read the whole post: more

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

Heather Cox Richardson--who is not given to overuse of metaphors--on Substack: ". . . the lug nuts on the wheels of the White House bus continue to loosen." She then outlines a variety of examples wherein the Republican administration is taking the country in policy and political actions.

submitted 16 days ago • 1 comment

Such well-known sayings can often serve as half of an assumed analogy when applied to a current experience, policy, or stance. Well done Dutch culture! Thanks @ohlookbirdies.bsky.social! #metaphorsandbeyond

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

N. Gregory Mankiw, an influential conservative economist at Harvard noted concerning severe Republican admin policies: "Double parking is a problem. But we don’t start executing people who double park." Many thanks to PD Amick for finding this comparison in the NYTimes. #metaphorsandbeyond

submitted 21 days ago • 0 comments

Wonderful, striking visual/verbal stealth metaphor offering both insight and great advice. Thanks @larryhochman.bsky.social! #metaphorsandbeyond

submitted 23 days ago • 1 comment

"Battle," "Prize," "Permit," and "Long Path" are among our most enduring stealth metaphors; well used here to remind us of the efforts now and ahead. Thanks @marcelias.bsky.social! #metaphorsandbeyond

submitted 23 days ago • 0 comments

We will not win the battle for democracy if those in the pro-democracy movement prize caution over taking risks. We cannot permit ourselves to be deterred by the defeats and public criticism that are inevitable along the long path of restoring democracy. Now is the time for fearless leadership.

submitted 24 days ago • 678 comments

Never argue with a NASA astronaut, especially when they have a politician by the scruff of the neck 1/4 of a million miles out! By the by, "grabbing by the scruff of the neck" is one of our most favored pet stealth metaphors. Thanks @sharonk.bsky.social! #metaphorsandbeyond

submitted 23 days ago • 0 comments

wrote about the simile and the little space of _like, as_ that may be the kind of distance needed to produce an electric charge:

submitted 28 days ago • 3 comments

Going to keyboard keys for insight should never be seen as klutzy or clumsy! Thanks @dlbowman76.com! Quiet, enjoyed mornings are worth their weight in keyboard key combinations. #metaphorsandbeyond

submitted 23 days ago • 0 comments

Amazing run-up to a lab/locomotive simile (overall comes close to qualifying as a paraprosdokian). Thanks ‪@tracelarkhall.bsky.social‬! Thanks @barneyronay.bsky.social! #metaphorsandbeyond

submitted 23 days ago • 0 comments

Intensely indicative of how embedded metaphors can guide, influence, and shape political policy. Well worth your read. Thanks @dirkmoses.bsky.social. #metaphorsandbeyond

submitted 26 days ago • 0 comments

". . . small pigs" participating in "the market economy" raises a worthwhile observation about stealth metaphors to new heights via a paraprosdokian. Thanks @janskudlarek.bsky.social! Well done! #metaphorsandbeyond

submitted 26 days ago • 0 comments

The "lead plumbing . . . to the Roman Empire" comparative analogy hold a bunch of water! Thanks @blackcatbone.bsky.social! #metaphorsandbeyond

submitted 26 days ago • 0 comments

Diminution serves as a valuable metaphor tool. For instance Sarah Rose records this observation by a WW II British counter-intelligence agent about an unhelpful French underground group: "I challenge you all even under the influence of benzedrine to scrape up one gnat’s navel full of gravy." Ouch!

submitted 28 days ago • 1 comment

Parker and Scherer characterize a portion of the actions in the early Trump-2 presidency this way: "[Trump] ] had adjusted tariffs like a DJ spinning knobs in the booth, upsetting the rhythms of global trade and inducing vertigo in the financial markets." #metaphorsandbeyondy

submitted 32 days ago • 1 comment

By cross-referencing related words Jack Ohman takes a stealth metaphor (rollercoaster) and uses DJT's claim of "on track" to produce a visual/verbal metaphor of note. Let's not ride this one until the tracks are fixed!

submitted 42 days ago • 0 comments

Edward Johnson on DJT's planned new Air Force One: "We didn’t buy a jet—we bought a flying Versailles for an obese Bond villain with dementia. Meanwhile, teachers buy their own supplies and vets live in tents. Welcome aboard Air Fraud One: now boarding ego, grift, and gallons of bronzer." 1/2

submitted 42 days ago • 1 comment

Brooks with a water metaphor for cultural trouble: "The callous tolerance of cruelty is a river that runs through human history. It was dammed up, somewhat, only by millenniums of hard civilizational work. The pagan ethos — ancient or modern — always threatens to unleash brutality once again."

submitted 45 days ago • 1 comment