Editing Metaphor (section)

{{Short description|Figure of speech of implicit comparison}}
{{About |the figure of speech}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
[[File:Puck; 1894-05-02; Vol 35 Iss 895 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.25| A [[political cartoon]] by illustrator S.D. Ehrhart in an 1894 [[Puck (magazine)|''Puck'' magazine]] shows a farm-woman labeled [[Democratic Party (United States)|"Democratic Party"]] sheltering from a tornado of political change.]]

A '''metaphor''' is a [[figure of speech]] that, for [[rhetoric]]al effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another.<ref>Compare: {{Cite web|url= http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metaphor|title= Definition of METAPHOR|website= Merriam-Webster |access-date= 2016-03-29 | quote = [...] a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them [... .]}}</ref> It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to create a likeness or an [[Analogy|analogy]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of METAPHOR |url =https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metaphor |access-date=2024-04-04 |website=Merriam-Webster |language=en}}</ref>

Analysts group metaphors with other types of figurative language, such as [[antithesis]], [[hyperbole]], [[metonymy]], and [[simile]].<ref>{{Cite book
|title= The Oxford Companion to The English Language, 2nd Edition (e-book)
|date= 2018
|publisher= Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0-19-107387-8
|quote= [...] ANTITHESIS; HYPERBOLE; METONYMY; SIMILE are all species of metaphor.
}}</ref> According to [[Grammarly]], "Figurative language examples include similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, allusions, and idioms."<!-- direct quote from the source needs quotes and attribution --><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-14 |title=Figurative Language Examples: 6 Common Types and Definitions |url=https://www.grammarly.com/blog/writing-tips/figurative-language/ |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=Figurative Language Examples: 6 Common Types and Definitions {{!}} Grammarly |language=en}}</ref> One of the most commonly cited examples of a metaphor in English literature comes from the "[[All the world's a stage]]" monologue from ''[[As You Like It]]'':

<blockquote><poem>All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances 
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His Acts being seven ages. At first, the infant...
:—[[William Shakespeare]], ''[[As You Like It]]'', 2/7<ref>{{cite web|url= http://shakespeare.mit.edu/asyoulikeit/full.html |title= As You Like It: Entire Play |publisher= Shakespeare.mit.edu |access-date= 4 March 2012}}</ref></poem>
</blockquote>

This quotation expresses a metaphor because the world is not literally a stage, and most humans are not literally actors and actresses playing roles. By asserting that the world is a stage, Shakespeare uses points of comparison between the world and a stage to convey an understanding about the mechanics of the world and the behavior of the people within it.

In the ancient Hebrew [[psalms]] (around 1000 B.C.), one finds vivid and poetic examples of metaphor such as, "The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold" and "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want". Some recent linguistic theories view all language in essence as metaphorical.<ref name="bbc_co_uk">{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2003/lecture4.shtml | last = Ramachandran | first = V. S. | author-link = V. S. Ramachandran |title=Radio 4 – Reith Lectures 2003 – The Emerging Mind |publisher=BBC |access-date=4 March 2012 | quote =  If you look at our ordinary language, it's replete with synesthetic metaphors, cross-sensory metaphors such as for example if you said cheddar cheese is sharp. [...] So I'm going to argue in fact [[synesthesia]] has very broad implications. It might tell you about things like metaphor and how language evolved in the brain, maybe even the emergence of abstract thought that us humans, human beings are very good at.}}</ref> The [[etymology]] of a word may uncover a metaphorical usage which has since become obscured with persistent use - such as for example the English word "{{linktext|window}}", etymologically equivalent to "wind eye".<ref>
{{oed | window}}
</ref>

The word''&nbsp;metaphor'' itself is a metaphor, coming from a Greek term meaning 'transference (of ownership)'. The user of a metaphor alters the reference of the word, "carrying" it from one [[Semantics|semantic]] "realm" to another. The new meaning of the word might derive from an analogy between the two semantic realms, but also from other reasons such as the distortion of the semantic realm - for example in sarcasm.