metaphor, the most important and widespread *FIGURE OF SPEECH, in which one thing, idea, or action is referred to by a word or expression normally denoting another thing, idea, or action, so as to suggest some common quality shared by the two. In metaphor, this resemblance is assumed as an imaginary identity rather than directly stated as a comparison: referring to a man as that pig, or saying he is a pig is metaphorical, whereas he is like a pig is a *SIMILE. Metaphors may also appear as verbs (a talent may blossom) or as adjectives (a novice may be green), or in longer *IDIOMATIC phrases, e.g. to throw the baby out with the bath-water. The use of metaphor to create new combinations of ideas is a major feature of *POETRY, although it is quite possible to write poems without metaphors. Much of our everyday language is also made up of metaphorical words and phrases that pass unnoticed as 'dead' metaphors, like the branch of an organization. A mixed metaphor is one in which the combination of qualities suggested is illogical or ridiculous (see also catachresis), usually as a result of trying to apply two metaphors to one thing: those vipers stabbed us in the back. Modern analysis of metaphors and similes distinguishes the primary literal term (called the '*TENOR') from the secondary figurative term (the 'vehicle') applied to it: in the metaphor the road of life, the tenor is life, and the vehicle is the road. For a fuller account, consult Terence Hawkes, Metaphor (1972). from The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. 

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