To: Hank Stamper who wrote (21150 ) 8/7/2001 3:10:37 PM From: pat mudge Read Replies (2) | Respond to OT but I reckon that your use of "metaphorically speaking" is not right on two counts. One, we’re not speaking, we’re writing. Two it isn’t metaphor, it’s analogy. I think these are properly called rhetorical devices. And, I like to see the right tool used for the right job. metaphor : 1. 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. . . 2. an object, activity, or idea treated as a metaphor. . .analogy : 1. inference that if two or more things agree with one another in some respects they will probably agree in others 2. resemblance in some particulars between things otherwise unlike: similarity 3. correspondence between the members of pairs or sets of linguistic forms that serves as a basis for the creation of another form 4. correspondence in function between anatomical parts of different structure and origin. . . rhetoric : 1. the art of speaking or writing effectively; specifically: the study of principles and rules of composition formulated by critics of ancient times 2 a: skill in the effective use of speech b: a type or mode of language or speech; also: insincere or grandiloquent language 3: verbal communication; discourse. rhetorical : 1 a: of, relating to, or concerned with rhetoric b: employed for rhetorical effect 2 a: given to rhetoric: grandiloquent b: verbal. . . pedantic : 1: of, relating to, or being a pedant 2: narrowly, stodgily, and often ostentatiously learned (~ concern with detail) --- too narrowly concerned with learned matters. . . prig: . . . one who offends or irritates by observance of proprieties (as of speech or manners) in a pointed manner or to an obnoxious degree. charlatan: 1: quack 2: one making unusually noisy or showy pretenses to knowledge or ability. . . We dance round in a ring and suppose,
