yulianna

This entry came out of a recent discussion with a friend on the value of metaphor and the role it plays in language and communication. He had been frustrated at his own use of metaphor because he felt it was the result of 'lazy thinking' on his part — that he stopped trying to describe something once he found a mostly-acceptable metaphor for it. He felt that metaphor tended to be less precise, and more prone to misinterpretation. He also suggested that anything communicated via metaphor could also be communicated without it — similar to a dictionary using other words to define a word (look, a simile!).

These were astonishing notions to me. Figurative language is so prevalent in our speech that often we don't even notice it. Many of our commonly accepted meanings of words are actually metaphoric in nature. To communicate without it would feel like writing with my left hand (I'm right-handed — and, by the way, another simile!). I found myself trying to explain why I felt that metaphor was so important, and why it was not only valuable, but often crucial to the conveyance of meaning and the evocation of feelings and concepts. After feeling unsatisfied that I had effectively communicated my thoughts, I typed "why metaphor" into Google — and found several articles that did an interesting job of articulating a few of the ideas that I was trying to get across. I present the following in no particular order (in fact, "Exhibit C" is probably the one that spoke to me the most). And then I follow up with a few more of my own thoughts below.

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English Genius You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 100% Expert!

You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go! Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it! For the complete Answer Key, visit my blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 65% on Beginner You scored higher than 40% on Intermediate You scored higher than 74% on Advanced You scored higher than 93% on Expert

Link: The Commonly Confused Words Test written by shortredhead78 on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Pirate! All done! You scored 72!

You're quite a pirate! You know your stuff and you'd probably survive out on the high seas. You know how to get your treasure and, more importantly, how to spend it. I'd have you on my crew matey.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 22% on piratepoints

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Link: The Are you really a pirate? Test written by killingspree on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

well, i know everyone litters their journals with these little quizzes, which i have generally shied away from. but i guess i'm in a weird mood today, so what the hell.