metaphor is a figure of speech in which the name is transferred from one thing to another with which it is possible to establish a relation of comparison. For the comparison to take place, there must be similar semantic elements (relative to meaning) between the words or expressions in question.
THE similarity relationship between two terms it entails a transfer of meanings, established through an implicit comparison. The word metaphor comes from the Greek metaphora (change, transposition).
Examples of metaphors
Example 1: My cousin is a flower.
Explanation: As we read this sentence, we know that this is not a literal speech. The sender of the message makes an implicit comparison between the cousin and the flower, and this transfer results in a figurative communication. Thus, characteristics of a flower are attributed to the cousin, which can be beauty, delicacy, softness, among others.
Example 2: Punch with a knife tip.
Explanation: “Punching with the tip of a knife” is a metaphor used to refer to a situation in which someone insists on doing something that does not bring results and that can cause harm to himself.
Example 3: Carry the world on your back.
Explanation: This is a metaphor based on Greek mythology: Atlas was punished by Zeus and condemned to support the columns of heaven, hence being represented with the celestial sphere on his shoulders. The use of this metaphor draws a comparison to people who have many responsibilities for themselves and that they look tired like Atlas, who is always portrayed with his face turned towards low.
Example 4: "The Rose of Hiroshima".
Explanation: "Rosa de Hiroshima" is a poem written by Vinícius de Moraes, where the author establishes a analogy (comparison) between the appearance of a rose and the appearance of the Hiroshima bomb when it exploded.
Example 5: "My thought is an underground river".
Explanation: the sentence above, authored by Fernando Pessoa, was used by the author to establish an analogy between his thought and a river, eventually considering that both share characteristics such as fluidity and depth, for example.
Example 6: She has a heart of ice.
Explanation: The metaphorical language of the sentence above makes a comparison between ice and a person's feelings. The relationship indicates that the same coldness of ice is present in her heart, that she does not show her feelings or is devoid of affection.
Example 7: Lion hunger.
This metaphor implies that someone is extremely hungry, to the point of having their appetite compared to that of a lion.
Example 8: The misunderstanding between them is just the tip of the iceberg.
Explanation: It is based on the fact that often the visible part of an iceberg is very small when compared to the part that is submerged, implying that there is much more than what is see.
It is often used to describe the human mind: the surface part is the conscious part, and the largest and submerged part is the unconscious part. It is also used to refer to a problem, making it clear that it can be much more complex than you think.
Example 9: "The nostalgia is to clean the room / For the son who has died" (Chico Buarque)
Explanation: these two verses from the song "Pedaço de mim", by Chico Buarque, bring a definition of a feeling that is so difficult to define: nostalgia. In this excerpt of the song, an analogy is established between nostalgia and the act of "tidying the child's room who has already died", transferring to the term saudade all the pain and the feeling of absence contained in this action.
Example 10: "I am the light of the stars" (Raul Seixas and Paulo Coelho)
Explanation: The song "Gita" is full of metaphors, all of them related to the pronoun "I", which is repeated at the beginning of many verses (anaphora). When you say "I am the starlight", you transfer the characteristics of the term star (intensity, brightness, beauty, etc.) to the "I". Remembering that the interpretation of the message always depends on the context.
See others Metaphor Examples and meet some famous metaphors.
Metaphor and comparison
It is true that the metaphor, by bringing two terms together, promotes a comparison. However, metaphor and comparison (or simile) are different figures of speech. And the difference lies in the explanation or not of the connective responsible for establishing the comparison. In the case of metaphor, there is no connective. In comparison, yes.
Connectives are words or expressions (adverbs, conjunctions, pronouns) that establish connections between words, sentences and periods.
Let us assume the following metaphor: "He is a horse when he is working". I could convey that same message by making this comparison: "It works like a horse". The use of the comparative conjunction "as" evidences the comparison. There are other connectives that can be used in comparisons: like, like, like, like, like, like, and so on.
Other examples of comparison:
- She's quick as a rocket.
- He's strong like a bull.
- "Life comes in waves like the sea" (Vinícius de Moraes)
See also: Metaphor and Comparison and Meaning of Comparison.
Use of Metaphor
Metaphor is a very important linguistic resource in human communication and, therefore, it is widely used in everyday life.
It has even been proven by research that, during a conversation, the human being uses an average of four metaphors per minute. People are often unwilling or unable to express what they really feel. Thus, they end up resorting to phrases with metaphors where some meanings are implied.
Metaphor is also widely used in advertising and marketing activities, whether in the texts used to advertise a product or in the symbology used to identify them.
The advertisements for the Ruffles French fries bet on metaphors with the word wave.
There is an explanation for this: the brain has an easier time unconsciously memorizing a metaphor. Thus, the application of metaphorical expressions makes it easier for the consumer to memorize the advertising of a product.
know more about Analogy.
Everyday Life Metaphor
The Metaphor of Everyday Life (in English: Metaphors We Live By) is a book by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson.
This work caused a great impact in the academic world and according to Kanavillil Rajagopalan, it has already conquered the place of "classic".
George Lakoff and Mark Johnson address metaphor and its impact on human beings. With this book, they challenge the way of thinking that classifies metaphor as a simple embellishment of thought.
According to the authors, human thought itself and cognitive development are structured thanks to metaphor, as they are linked to the way we see and learn the external world.
George and Mark claim that:
"The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one thing in terms of another."
See too:
- Examples of figures of speech
- Figures of Language
- Pleonasm
- Metonymy