In the film Moneyball, we understand how cheap the Oakland A’s are because the team charges its own baseball players to use vending machines. Think of them-metaphorically-as gateways between simple understanding and abstract understanding.

Had they named it the “Cosmological Massive Expansion Event,” it would become boring.ĭone well, metaphors enhance clarity and understanding. Everyone understands the Big Bang at a core level because of the language physicists use. Like any literary device, a metaphor is a creative way to enhance understanding and depth in a concept. Any time you use a separate concept to link to an abstract concept and make it easier to understand, you may be entering the territory of the metaphorical. Metaphors, on the other hand, are symbols that stand on their own-which is another metaphor, because abstract concepts can’t literally stand.

If you start a phrase with “this feels like…” you move into simile territory. It takes a bit of self-confidence to launch into a good metaphor. When you say that you’re the “black sheep” of your family, it’s a metaphor for being the individual who stands out in the crowd. Seuss writes that the Grinch’s heart “grew two sizes,” it’s a metaphor for the Grinch beginning to care. A metaphor is a direct comparison of two ideas without using “like” or “as,” which a simile does. Let’s start with a basic metaphor definition.

Metaphors in the road not taken