James Geary’s I Is an Other (2011) explores metaphors and how they work (or don’t work). Here are some examples of metaphors that don’t work:
“She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room temperature Canadian beef.” (p. 144)
“He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.” (p. 144)
Geary explains what makes metaphors work effectively. A metaphor activates two thoughts of two different things at the same time. To illustrate how this works, Geary resorts to one of my favorite Star Trek episodes:
“This same lack of essential context is what perplexed the crew of the Starship Enterprise when they encountered the Tamarians in the ‘Darmok’ episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The Tamarians speak a language no one has yet been able to fully decipher. The Tarmarian tongue is so elusive because it is so allusive, consisting entirely of kennings from the alien race’s mythology and history.” (p. 162) That is, the Tamarians speak in metaphors. In comprehending metaphor, context is king. Once the crew of the Enterprise figure out the context of the Tamarians, they cracked the language code.
I enjoy James Geary’s breezy books on metaphors, aphorisms, and wit. Highly recommended! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Foreword: Why I is an Other p. 1
Metaphor and Thought: All Shook Up p. 5
Metaphor and Etymology: Language is Fossil Poetry p. 17
Metaphor and Money: How High Can a Dead Cat Bounce? p. 29
Metaphor and the Mind: Imagining an Apple in Someone’s Eye p. 44
Metaphor and Advertising: Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads in Them p. 58
Metaphor and the Brain: Bright Sneezes and Loud Sunlight p. 76
Metaphor and the Body: Anger is a Heated Fluid in a Container p. 94
Metaphor and Politics: Freedom Fries and Liberty Cabbage p. 112
Metaphor and Pleasure: Experience is a Comb That Nature Gives to Bald Men p. 137
Metaphor and Children: How Should One Refer to the Sky? p. 152
Metaphor and Science: The Earth is Like a Rice Pudding p. 167
Metaphor and Parables and Proverbs: Mighty Darn Good Lies p. 179
Metaphor and Innovation: Make it Strange p. 197
Metaphor and Psychology: A Little Splash of Color From My Mother p. 208
Backword: The Logic of Metaphor p. 223
Acknowledgments p. 227
Notes p. 229
Bibliography p. 259
Index p. 291
Fascinating.
Jerry, I IS AN OTHER floored me several times while I was reading it. James Geary’s books makes you see the world in very different ways!
WTF?
Michael, just something a little different.
Nothing more romantic than comparing your sweetie to a garbage truck!
Jeff, that’s exactly what I thought when reading that metaphor!
Jeff, that reminds me of the Rod McKuen lyric, “I know a man who married a dump truck; he had a hard time out on the dance floor.”
Jerry, yes but that guy just kept on truckin’!!!
And, of course, trucks backing up don’t ring bells (at least in any country I’m aware of), so much as (universally?) send out a warning beep/bleat. Another means, quite aside from maladroitness, through which that metaphor fails.
Todd, good point!
Done skillfully, they are so effective but it’s easy to get wrong.
Patti, exactly! James Geary provides models and examples for doing metaphors right…and wrong!
I’m a simile man myself! Metaphors are for suckers!
Bob, I like your style!