The Metaphor

Metaphors are comparisons that show how two things that are not alike in most ways are similar in one important way.

Examples are:

Time is a thief.
Life is a roller coaster ride.
You're an angel.

It is when you give certain qualities or features to a person or thing by comparing it to something else. In the example above "she" is not literally an angel and "life" is not literally a roller coaster ride, but they have certain character traits that are much like the things they are being compared to.

Examples:

The examination was a breeze.

He is a rough diamond.

You are a star.

A considerable amount of people only associate metaphors with the sweet, sugar-coated lyrics of songs and poetry.



However, upon closer examination it is found that all of us - be it knowing or unknowingly - speak, write, think and even gossip in metaphors every day, so that the idea or view that we want to get across is easily and clearly conveyed.