Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Simile

A simile is a figure of speech comparing two unlike things, often introduced with the word "like" or "as"Even though similes and metaphors are both forms of comparison, similes allow the two ideas to remain distinct in spite of their similarities, whereas metaphors compare two things without using "like" or "as". For instance, a simile that compares a person with a bullet would go as follows: "John was a record-setting runner and as fast as a speeding bullet." A metaphor might read something like, "John was a record-setting runner. That speeding bullet could zip past you without you even knowing he was there."

Explicit similes

A simile can explicitly provide the basis of a comparison or leave this basis implicit. For instance, the following similes are implicit, leaving an audience to determine for themselves which features are being predicated of a target:
"My dad was a mechanic by trade when he was in the Army," Raymond Thompson said. "When he got the tools out, he was like a surgeon."

More detail is present in the following similes, but it is still a matter of inference as to what features are actually predicated of the target:
He fights like a lion.
He swims as fast as a fish.
He slithers like a snake.
He runs like a cheetah.
She kicks like a mule.

Stereotypes

The most commonplace similes offer a window into the stereotypes that pervade a given language and culture. For example, the following similes convey a stereotypical view of people, animals and things:
as precise as a surgeon
as regular as a clock
as cunning as a fox
as ugly as a toad
as strong as an ox
as sour as vinegar
as lithe as a panther
as quiet as a mouse
as bumpy as a gravel road.

These similes have the status of a cliché or platitude in English, and their use is typically taken to signify a lack of creative imagination.

Some stereotypical similes express viewpoints that are technically incorrect but which are widespread in a culture, such as:
as cruel as a wolf
as stubborn as a goat
as drunk as a skunk
as violent as a gorilla
as slow as a sloth
as proud as a peacock

Irony

Some similes play against expectations to convey an ironic viewpoint, as in the following examples:
as sharp as a bowling ball
as subtle as a sledgehammer
as straight as a round-about
as porous as steel
as bulletproof as a spongecake
as cuddly as a cactus
as charming as an eel
as pretty as a car crash
as smooth as sandpaper

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