Metaphors have a great ability to convey complex ideas in a form that’s easier to understand. They even can enliven a potentially boring subject matter. They’re also easily abused and confused.
A usual suspect is the “additive” metaphor. The author uses multiple metaphors to explain a single concept. For example, a certain environment is first described as a minefield. It is then compared to a raging river or frothing sea in the next paragraph. It’s an unnecessary addition; one metaphor on top of another does not stronger copy make. It only proves that the writer isn’t confident about the choice of metaphor. To correct the issue, the writer should use one and only one metaphor and develop an extended conceit.
In other cases, two metaphors are mashed together. It’s the case of the mixed metaphor as in “the rain pelted our skin and whispered in our ears.” Such a rain cannot do both. If the rain “pelts,” it feels like stones hitting the skin and would, therefore, “roar.” If the rain “whispers,” it falls softly. It might feel more like a warm, wet blanket, not a small avalanche of stones. The only course of correction, as mentioned in the preceding paragraph, is to choose one descriptor and carry it through the entire sentence: the rain pelted our skin and roared in our ears.
The final culprit tends to be the overused or trite image. “It’s raining cats and dogs” works in everyday speech, but the phrase is to be avoided in writing unless a character says it in dialogue. The writer who is describing a storm must use more descriptive – something fresh and concrete – words.
What are some of your favorite metaphor mistakes?
[…] returns to the world of words because they are content’s backbone. She advises marketers to “mind their metaphors.” Good copy is good because it’s concise and striking, not because it uses multiple metaphors […]