Have you ever heard of metaphor? You've probably used one at some point. The metaphor is a figure of speech that occurs when we implicitly compare elements or ideas. But what does it mean?
What is metaphor?
The metaphor is a figure of speech used to make implicit comparisons, that is, to compare ideas, people, things or concepts without using expressions that indicate this comparison, leaving everything unspoken.
For this, in the metaphor, we use the figurative language, which is the one that does not bring the literal, real meaning of the words. For this reason, she is also considered a word picture, which are the figures of speech that play with the meanings of words.
Read too: Catachresis — word picture used in the absence of a specific term
Uses of Metaphor
Let's look at some examples of the metaphor.
He has a giant heart!
In the example above, the language is not literal, that is, it does not mean that the person's heart is the size of a giant. In fact, this sentence means that the person is very loving, affectionate, affectionate. For this, a metaphor was used saying that her heart is too big.
This girl é a real chameleon, he knows how to disguise himself very well!
In this other example, the girl cannot literally be the chameleon animal, as she is a human being. However, she has been compared to a chameleon because, like one, she also manages to disguise herself very well.
How hot! This house it is an oven!
In this last example, the person is not claiming that they live in an oven, but rather used this metaphor to say that their house is so hot that it resembles the temperature of an oven.
Differences between metaphor and comparison
Did you know that there is also a figure of speech called Comparation? It also draws comparisons and similarities between different ideas or elements, but does so explicitly, or that is, using expressions that indicate that it is a comparison, unlike what we learned about metaphor. See the difference:
Comparation
Ricardo is Lightlike a feather.
In this example, we use the comparison figure because of the word “like”, which indicates the comparison. Thus, we compare someone's weight to the weight of a feather, indicating that this person is very light. See the difference if we use a metaphor:
Metaphor
Ricardo has the weight of a feather.
It is not possible for a person to have the same weight as a feather. Therefore, here a metaphor was used to indicate that the person is very light.
Read too: Metonymy - figure of speech characterized by the substitution of one term for another
solved exercises
question 1
Check the alternative that contains a metaphor.
a) He sings like a bird!
b) We are nail and flesh!
c) This animal is tall as a building!
d) They swim as well as a fish!
question 2
Transform the following comparisons into metaphors:
a) He sings like a bird!
b) We are like nails and flesh!
c) They swim as well as a fish!
Answers
1 – Alternative B. People are not literally nail and flesh, but this metaphor was used to say that they are always together, as the nail is always together with flesh. In the other alternatives, there is a comparison.
2 – There are many different possibilities for turning comparisons into metaphors. Here are some examples:
a) He has a bird's voice!
b) We are nail and flesh!
c) They are real fish!
