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Jun 21, 2022 · Mixed Metaphors Explained: 8 Examples of Mixed Metaphors. A well-crafted metaphor uses consistent imagery ("hitting the nail on the head”); when you start mixing imagery ("hitting the nail on the nose"), you can create a type of malapropism known as a mixed metaphor.
Jun 25, 2024 · A mixed metaphor is a figure of speech that combines two different metaphors in a nonsensical, oftentimes comedic, way. The original meanings of the two metaphors are usually lost once they are combined into a mixed metaphor.
What are Mixed Metaphors? A mixed metaphor is a mixture of two or more dissimilar, figurative elements, like metaphors, similes, and idioms, which in turn, lead to the silly or even confusing effect. This is likely to occur when you are creative and borrow ideas from various quarters or contexts potentially rendering your statement nonsensical ...
metaphor / simile. Both make comparisons, but a metaphor compares one thing to another straight up, while a simile uses "like" or "as." The word metaphor comes from the Greek metaphora "to transfer." With a metaphor, an idea is transferred from one word to another. It's implicit, like in this metaphor from Flannery O'Connor, "He had measured ...
- Using Mixed Metaphors
- Examples of Mixed Metaphors
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In "Garner's Modern American Usage", Bryan A. Garner offers this classic example of a mixed metaphor from a speech by Boyle Roche in the Irish Parliament: This sort of mixed metaphor may occur when a speaker is so familiar with the figurative sense of a phrase ("smell a rat," "nip in the bud") that he fails to recognize the absurdity that results f...
"So now what we are dealing with is the rubber meeting the road, and instead of biting the bullet on these issues, we just want to punt.""[T]he bill is mostly a stew of spending on existing programs, whatever their warts may be.""A friend of mine, talking about the Democratic presidential candidates, tossed out a wonderful mixed metaphor: 'This is awfully weak tea to have to hang your hat on.'""The mayor has a heart as big as the Sahara for protecting 'his' police officers, and that is commendable. Unfortunately, he also often strips his gears by failing to engage the clutch when shiftin...Lynne Truss, "Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation", 2003 Chicago Tribune, cited by The New Yorker, August 13, 2007 The New York Times, January 27, 2009 Montgomery Advertiser, Alabama, cited by The New Yorker, November 16, 1987 Bob Herbert, "Behind the Curtain," The New York Times, November 27, 2007 Thomas L. Friedman, ...
- Richard Nordquist
Aug 16, 2024 · A mixed metaphor is the combination of two or more unrelated and sometimes incongruous metaphors, resulting in a statement that is not logically consistent or, at times, unintentionally humorous.
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a combination of two or more different metaphors, often producing a silly or humorous effect: "The new job has allowed her to spread her wings and really blossom," is a mixed metaphor. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Figurative use of language. allegorically. allusion. anthropomorphic. anthropomorphism. anthropomorphize. double meaning
