3 Cases of Mixed Metaphors

3 Cases of Mixed Metaphors 3 Cases of Mixed Metaphors 3 Cases of Mixed Metaphors By Mark Nichol Efforts to describe something idiomatically with the use of metaphor- a word or phrase that figuratively provides an analogy- more than once in a sentence will likely distractingly interfere with reading comprehension, so avoid using more than one metaphor in a sentence, or at least ensure that they are complementary. Discussions after each example in this post explain the difficulty of using two metaphors, and revisions suggest a solution. 1. What you hear symbolizes something ominous- impending danger lurking just beneath the surface, which has been hanging over our heads in recent years. The metaphors in this sentence come at the reader from both directions, with an allusion to subterranean peril and an indirect reference to the anecdote of the sword of Damocles, in which a king suspends a sword over a courtier’s head by a single hair to teach the man a lesson about the peril of being in a position of power. To avoid this discordance, the metaphors should be consistent in imagery: â€Å"What you hear symbolizes something ominous- impending danger lurking just beneath the surface, which has percolating in recent years.† (Percolating is also a metaphor, but such one-word analogies embedded in our language do not distract as easily as more vivid imagery, and the verb is concordant with the preceding metaphor.) 2. These actions resulted in a significant redirection of market focus and gave the firms a ringside seat when the proverbial music stopped. â€Å"A ringside seat† refers to achieving a privileged position (literally, a front-row seat at a boxing match), and the phrase about music alludes to surviving a round of the game of musical chairs, in which competitors circle a group of chairs that numbers one less than the number of participants and vie to obtain a seat when music that is briefly played suddenly ceases, causing one person to be disqualified in each round. Although both metaphors deal, in a sense, with attainment of privilege, the contexts are different, and one is best abandoned in favor of the other: â€Å"These actions resulted in a significant redirection of market focus and gave the firms a ringside seat when that shift occurred.† 3. The same division within the party that derailed healthcare reform could also rear its head with respect to tax reform.   The reference to figurative derailment is at odds with the clichà ©d metaphor of a threatening creature preparing to strike. Again, sacrifice one metaphor for another (preferably, replacing the clichà © with a straightforward verb): â€Å"The same division within the party that derailed healthcare reform could also occur with respect to tax reform.† (An attempt to match the derailment reference with another train-related metaphor will only call attention to the symmetry at the expense of the point of the sentence.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:4 Types of Gerunds and Gerund Phrases75 Idioms and Expressions That Include â€Å"Break†What is an Anagram?

Free Essays on Look at our life today; look how it has changed

Look at our life today; look how it has changed. Just one hundred years ago we could see O’Henry’s little secretaries typing for ten hours a day. Weak and deprived of rights, they could be easily dismissed, experience sexual harassment or encounter health problems. They had nobody to be protected by, nobody to turn to. Dark rooms, bad air, and sitting for whole day. It was cruel, but innocent world. Hours, after work, spent in front of windows of an underwear store, cheap food and little dark rooms with gas lighting in the evenings. When she stepped outside her office, she forgot where she worked, she stayed alone with herself, she was on her own planet, she was in her own world. Today we can see the same girl in front of the same underwear store with a mobile phone in her hand giving orders to bank or suppliers. Life has changed. Rhythm has changed. Conditions have changed. For good or bad? Our little hero can’t be dismissed anymore, just because boss’s wife doesn’t like her. She can’t be forced to make things she doesn’t want to do. There are days when she works for 16 hours, twice more than she should, but she is paid for these hours. Her office is cozy, bright, and comfortable. She can be promoted. She can be sent to learn. She is protected and independent. But no matter where she goes with her mobile phone on her - it’s on. Always. We find ourselves today, at the beginning of the Twenty-first century, in bright well air-conditioned offices, protected by contracts in our pockets and by armies of different employees associations. We have become more productive with the help of personal computers, electronic mail, scanners, facsimile machines, and voice message systems. Our mobile phone can take us out of bed to solve urgent problems. â€Å"Super† clients can keep us at work on the birthday of our little daughter. Where is our privacy? Where is our real life? â€Å"Buying† rules have changed and so have â€Å"sellingï ¿ ½... Free Essays on Look at our life today; look how it has changed Free Essays on Look at our life today; look how it has changed Look at our life today; look how it has changed. Just one hundred years ago we could see O’Henry’s little secretaries typing for ten hours a day. Weak and deprived of rights, they could be easily dismissed, experience sexual harassment or encounter health problems. They had nobody to be protected by, nobody to turn to. Dark rooms, bad air, and sitting for whole day. It was cruel, but innocent world. Hours, after work, spent in front of windows of an underwear store, cheap food and little dark rooms with gas lighting in the evenings. When she stepped outside her office, she forgot where she worked, she stayed alone with herself, she was on her own planet, she was in her own world. Today we can see the same girl in front of the same underwear store with a mobile phone in her hand giving orders to bank or suppliers. Life has changed. Rhythm has changed. Conditions have changed. For good or bad? Our little hero can’t be dismissed anymore, just because boss’s wife doesn’t like her. She can’t be forced to make things she doesn’t want to do. There are days when she works for 16 hours, twice more than she should, but she is paid for these hours. Her office is cozy, bright, and comfortable. She can be promoted. She can be sent to learn. She is protected and independent. But no matter where she goes with her mobile phone on her - it’s on. Always. We find ourselves today, at the beginning of the Twenty-first century, in bright well air-conditioned offices, protected by contracts in our pockets and by armies of different employees associations. We have become more productive with the help of personal computers, electronic mail, scanners, facsimile machines, and voice message systems. Our mobile phone can take us out of bed to solve urgent problems. â€Å"Super† clients can keep us at work on the birthday of our little daughter. Where is our privacy? Where is our real life? â€Å"Buying† rules have changed and so have â€Å"sellingï ¿ ½...

Leadership paper 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Leadership paper 2 - Essay Example The personal life, challenges and opportunities also affect the professional life, vision and career development. The personal challenges that I face involve lack of time for the family members and inappropriate time to socialize and active participation in physical and mental activities. These challenges that I face, due to tight schedule of my job and my undue precedence to the professional career, are disrupting my personal life. Unstable personal life affects the professional career badly and hence, before going any further in the development of my professional life I would need to resolve the personal life issues keeping the professional values and visions under consideration. My Values: Basing the discussion on the LPI feedback, the most important trait according to my leadership skills is to treat others with dignity and respect. Employees working under my control, hence, are encouraged to put forward their ideas without any fear of embarrassment or humiliating behavior from t he management side including me. My values involve firm commitment and fulfillment of my promises which act as a modeling behavior for the employees. Employees spend more time observing the leaders’ behavior on how he/she acts in certain circumstances and respond to the commitments. A responsive, more responsible and committed leader inspires the visions and actions of the taskforce. I also believe in developing a cooperative environment where workers are encouraged to ponder over different issues, share their thoughts and implement the change. The fact that their ideas and views are respected and implemented if they are appropriate, integrate them more in the organization and they feel more relaxed and satisfied with the working environment. This leadership trait also enables the workers to trust the leader, act upon his decisions and understand the underlying factors of the decision which are beneficial for the firm and/or the performance of the group. My leadership values include the communication about group aspirations often in the daily working environment. This enables the employees keep their focus on achieving the group goals rather than achieving individual targets which collides with the group targets. Hence, proper communication of the targets and motivation to achieve them as a group helps achieving those targets by inspiring the group members’ vision and point of views about the work delegated to them. The LPI also suggests that seeking challenging opportunities to test and polish skills is also one of the traits that I adopt as a leader. Challenges and adverse situations enable the person think critically, evaluate, assess and implement. The challenging tasks and situations help making the group more integrated and devoted. The whole group is equally involved in tackling the difficult situation, hence creating a more firm and goal oriented taskforce. This further helps in realizing the true potentials of the group members and their involvement and interest in achieving the group goals. In addition to this, my values involve proper assessment of the group progress and communicate the results with the group to encourage them on improvement and discourage the traits which may hinder the success of the