METAPHORS AND SIMILES

METAPHORS, SIMILES, AND PERSONIFICATION ARE ALL FIGURES OF SPEECH.

A "FIGURE OF SPEECH" IS:

language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense  (from: wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn)

OR,  

[A] word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of another, and that is not meant to be understood on a literal level. Always involves some sort or imaginative comparison between seemingly unlike things.  (from: www.cougar.issaquah.wednet.edu/teachers/wangeman/handbook_of_literary_terms.htm) 

(BTW, "Personification" isn't officially part of this lesson, but it's a Figure of Speech, and it's really easy to understand.  Like in the movie NEMO, where all the fish could speak and had emotions, just like a person ["person"ification].)

A METAPHOR IS A FIGURE OF SPEECH WHICH IMPLIES COMPARISON BETWEEN TWO UNLIKE THINGS, OFTEN -- BUT NOT ALWAYS -- USING A FORM OF THE VERB "TO BE."  A METAPHOR SAYS "[THIS]  IS/WAS/HAS BEEN/WILL BE/ etc. [THAT]."   ("THAT" IS THE METAPHORICAL PART.) 

IT COULD BE EITHER A PHRASE OR A WORD.

“He was drowning in paperwork” is a metaphor in which having to deal with a lot of paperwork is being compared to drowning in an ocean of water.

"Time flies," an ancient metaphorical expression still in use today, does not use a form of the verb "to be."

"Your mother wears combat boots," an expression historically used as an insult, is a good example of a colloquial metaphor, and again, does not use a form of "to be."

A SIMILE IS ALSO A FIGURE OF SPEECH. IT'S AN ANALOGY, A COMPARISON, BETWEEN TWO UNLIKE THINGS, USING "LIKE" OR "AS" TO CONNECT THEM.

FOR ME, THIS IS ACTUALLY EASIER TO CONSTRUCT THAN A METAPHOR, AND IT'S MORE COMMON IN EVERYDAY SPEECH.

(And again, Shakespeare used similes as if they were going out of style.)

You've heard people say that such-and-such is "as ugly as sin." That's a simile: it is introduced with "like" or "as," and makes a comparison. 

Volvos are built like tanks.

Aunt Emma is as big as a house.

That T-Rex is as tall as the Empire State Building.

Some more common similies:

". . . as thick as thieves."

". . . like nails on a blackboard." 

" . . . as welcome as a skunk at a picnic."

". . . like two peas in a pod."

" . . . as silent as the grave."