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A mixed metaphor, shortened as “mixaphor,” is a figurative device that occurs when two metaphors are mixed up creating an incongruous comparison. A mixed metaphor, sometimes also called a “malaphor,” is an implicit comparison, that is often overarching, contradictory, or incompatible, between two or more dissimilar metaphors, similes ...
Jun 6, 2019 · Updated on June 06, 2019. A mixed metaphor is a succession of incongruous or ludicrous comparisons. Also known—playfully—as a mixaphor. Although many style guides condemn the use of mixed metaphors, in practice most of the objectionable combinations (as in the examples below) are actually clichés or dead metaphors.
- Richard Nordquist
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.
The speaker uses a mixed metaphor to set out the evening sky. The first metaphor compares the evening sky to something that is “spread out.”. It describes a flat and expansive surface. The second metaphor compares the evening sky to a patient who has been anesthetized (etherized)and is lying on a table likely in preparation for surgery ...
- Personification as Metaphor. Personification is a standard metaphor type. In literary terms, it gives the characteristics of a person to an object. The Velveteen Rabbit used personification.
- Extended Metaphor. An extended metaphor is more than a phrase or an English word. It’s often a type of poetry, such as Emily Dickenson’s Hope. An extended metaphor takes that comparison and discusses it for several sentences, stanzas, or an entire work.
- Dead Metaphors. Dead metaphors started as metaphors but have become so common that they no longer mean what they once did. George Orwell discussed dying metaphors at great length.
- Overused Metaphors. Dead metaphors are simply new phrases that no longer work as metaphors. But there is a space between original metaphors and dead metaphors that no longer work as that type of literary device.
Dec 4, 2023 · Metaphors are feelings, experiences and emotions wrapped up into words, and are among the most powerful tools in any poet’s toolbox. They’ve been used for centuries to express complex ideas and to bring colour and feeling to words. Metaphors allow readers to use their imaginations to shift between thought processes and realities.
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May 30, 2019 · Examples of Mixed Metaphors. "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 ...
