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Metaphors Dictionary
Rates a recommendation to lovers of language. – William Safire, New York Times. A masterful metaphor, like a picture, may be worth a thousand words. By comparing two unlike objects or ideas, it illuminates the similarities between them, accomplishing in a word or phrase what could otherwise be expressed only in many words, if at all. Metaphors Dictionary is an expansive collection of 6,500 colorful classic and contemporary comparative phrases (with full annotations and a complete bibliography of sources). The Metaphors Dictionary revisits most of the great and respected names in the annals of cultural literacy while dipping into current literature and media sources. And now available for the first time in hard cover, it’s bound for heavy duty at a price that’s hard to beat.
612 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 5, 2016
3.5 stars. I liked the material a lot, but there were these niggling annoyances.
The book was published in 1996. So some of the entries are kind of dated. Like quotes from the 1992 presidential campaigns. I know a bit about publishing deadlines. There was no way they could have included quotes from the 1996 campaigns. Current events just don't age well, even the 1996 ones would not be particularly interesting today.
The editorial glosses for some of the entries contained misspellings. Egregious example - following a quote that mentioned a person named Darrow, from a story by Edith Wharton, the editorial note called the person George Dallow.
There was some repetition in those notes as well. A comment would be repeated, with possibly some variant wording, in a couple of quotes in the same category. Or, in one case, the comment was that Shakespeare had used the same metaphor in another play. And sure enough, a subsequent entry would be the metaphor from that same play.
And, frankly, I sometimes thought the editors were on the wrong track with their comments.
In general, I am appalled at how so many books seem not to have been subjected to the kind of editorial review that ought to clean up this kind of sloppiness.
Now, why did I actually READ the book? It is obviously intended as a reference work. It changes subject about as frequently as a thesaurus - although the cast of characters isn't quite as extensive as a telephone book.
But I knew my own writing habits - that I would never bother to look anything up while in creative writing mode. So I decided to read it to see if there was anything I might find inspiring. I marked an occasional item because I liked the poetic image, or because it tickled my funny bone. Overall, I probably flagged about 1% that way.
By the way, the page count for this book is 612, plus about xl pages in the front. Those Roman numerals comprised a table of contents, an introduction, information on how to use the book, and a Table of Thematic Categories. Those thematic categories are then expanded with quotes, citation of the source for the quote, and sometimes those comments from the editors. The metaphor section makes up the next 471 pages. Then there are various cross references, a bibliography, and for some reason another list of metaphors, all from Shakespeare. This seems redundant, since the main list of metaphors includes Shakespearian ones. Since the items within each category are organized alphabetically by author, I would think you don't need a separate list.
At the moment, I own the book, but I haven't yet decided whether to keep it. Before I discard it, I need to transcribe those 1% items, and I may not get around to doing that for quite a while. As it happens, I bought the book in the thrift-priced section at Half Priced books, so it's not exactly a high value item.
The book was published in 1996. So some of the entries are kind of dated. Like quotes from the 1992 presidential campaigns. I know a bit about publishing deadlines. There was no way they could have included quotes from the 1996 campaigns. Current events just don't age well, even the 1996 ones would not be particularly interesting today.
The editorial glosses for some of the entries contained misspellings. Egregious example - following a quote that mentioned a person named Darrow, from a story by Edith Wharton, the editorial note called the person George Dallow.
There was some repetition in those notes as well. A comment would be repeated, with possibly some variant wording, in a couple of quotes in the same category. Or, in one case, the comment was that Shakespeare had used the same metaphor in another play. And sure enough, a subsequent entry would be the metaphor from that same play.
And, frankly, I sometimes thought the editors were on the wrong track with their comments.
In general, I am appalled at how so many books seem not to have been subjected to the kind of editorial review that ought to clean up this kind of sloppiness.
Now, why did I actually READ the book? It is obviously intended as a reference work. It changes subject about as frequently as a thesaurus - although the cast of characters isn't quite as extensive as a telephone book.
But I knew my own writing habits - that I would never bother to look anything up while in creative writing mode. So I decided to read it to see if there was anything I might find inspiring. I marked an occasional item because I liked the poetic image, or because it tickled my funny bone. Overall, I probably flagged about 1% that way.
By the way, the page count for this book is 612, plus about xl pages in the front. Those Roman numerals comprised a table of contents, an introduction, information on how to use the book, and a Table of Thematic Categories. Those thematic categories are then expanded with quotes, citation of the source for the quote, and sometimes those comments from the editors. The metaphor section makes up the next 471 pages. Then there are various cross references, a bibliography, and for some reason another list of metaphors, all from Shakespeare. This seems redundant, since the main list of metaphors includes Shakespearian ones. Since the items within each category are organized alphabetically by author, I would think you don't need a separate list.
At the moment, I own the book, but I haven't yet decided whether to keep it. Before I discard it, I need to transcribe those 1% items, and I may not get around to doing that for quite a while. As it happens, I bought the book in the thrift-priced section at Half Priced books, so it's not exactly a high value item.
May 4, 2008
I love this book!! Wordsmithing is an art and this book can help build upon existing knowledge and inspire ideas.
The table of contents are:
Introduction
How to Use this Book
Table of Thematic Categories
1. The Metaphors
2. Common Metaphors
3. Metaphors from Shakespeare
4. Bibliography
5. Author/Speaker Index
6. Subject Indexes
Examples:
Information:
- An ocean of data is sloshing around out there, and most of us are trying to sip it through a very narrow straw.
Tears:
1. Tears are summer showers to the soul.
2. Her tears will pierce into a marble heart.
The table of contents are:
Introduction
How to Use this Book
Table of Thematic Categories
1. The Metaphors
2. Common Metaphors
3. Metaphors from Shakespeare
4. Bibliography
5. Author/Speaker Index
6. Subject Indexes
Examples:
Information:
- An ocean of data is sloshing around out there, and most of us are trying to sip it through a very narrow straw.
Tears:
1. Tears are summer showers to the soul.
2. Her tears will pierce into a marble heart.
June 7, 2018
Some very good, some ehhhhh...
"And that was life... a succession fo street corners." - Aldous Huxley
Decent. Too big of a book though. Had to dig thru quantity to get to the quality.
"And that was life... a succession fo street corners." - Aldous Huxley
Decent. Too big of a book though. Had to dig thru quantity to get to the quality.
September 29, 2025
I don’t need to write a review. Carol’s review already said everything I had to say about it, pretty much verbatim. This is a 3.5 but I’m feeling charitable in the spirit of knowing how much effort it was to collect and assemble all the pieces that make such a reference tome possible. I imagined the Brothers Grimm wandering between hamlets on the outskirts of the Black Forest, knocking on doors to collect stories, or the Song Catcher roaming Appalachia on a quest of musical anthropology. This is a top level bardic quest, achieved at ~70% success. Respect.
It made me happy to think 1) all the effort people went through to say something beautifully and 2) I’m not the only one who sometimes fumbles miserably in that effort, and even still 3) someone (the assembler of this book) deemed the failed efforts worthy of repeat publication, even at their muddiest—for better or worse!
And yeah, I read it cover to cover, skimming a little—same reason as Carol. haha
As a reference, the index is too scant (albeit several frugally-spaced pages long) to find what I am looking for (I tried several times to no avail: solidity, perfection, hairiness, feralness) so found it best just to peruse the offerings in a semi-linear fashion.
Some highlights:
“A man in armor is his armor's slave.” — Robert Browning, "Herakles"
“The conqueror must arrange to commit all his cruelties at once . . . Whoever acts otherwise, either through timidity or bad counsel, is always obliged to stand with knife in hand.” —Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince (classic)
“Business as usual in eclipse / goes down to the sea in ships.” —Robert Lowell, "Waking Early Sunday Morning”
“Clown: there is no true cuckold but calamity.” —William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act 1, scene 5
“In his prime, / Ere the pruning-knife of Time / Cut him down, / Not a better man was found.” —Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., "The Last Leaf
“Age with stealing steps has clawed me.” — Thomas Vaux, "The Aged Lover Renounceth Love"
“Living now in death's immediate neighborhood, he was developing a soldier's jaunty indifference.”—John Updike, "Playing With Dynamite," The New Yorker, October 5, 1992
Some worst cases include these sorts of things—
The artless & chaotic:
“The blood of the mind fell / to the floor. I slept.” —Wallace Stevens, "A Weak Mind in the Mountains"
What the hell is “blood of the mind”? Did you sleep on the floor? What is going on?
And the excruciatingly banal sorts:
“Her skill as an executive was sometimes overshadowed by a reputation for an abrasive, take-no-prisoners style.” —Bernard Weinraub, The New York Times, August 30,1993
How did this make the cut?
Well, it seems I wrote a review anyway.
Sorry. 😂
It made me happy to think 1) all the effort people went through to say something beautifully and 2) I’m not the only one who sometimes fumbles miserably in that effort, and even still 3) someone (the assembler of this book) deemed the failed efforts worthy of repeat publication, even at their muddiest—for better or worse!
And yeah, I read it cover to cover, skimming a little—same reason as Carol. haha
As a reference, the index is too scant (albeit several frugally-spaced pages long) to find what I am looking for (I tried several times to no avail: solidity, perfection, hairiness, feralness) so found it best just to peruse the offerings in a semi-linear fashion.
Some highlights:
“A man in armor is his armor's slave.” — Robert Browning, "Herakles"
“The conqueror must arrange to commit all his cruelties at once . . . Whoever acts otherwise, either through timidity or bad counsel, is always obliged to stand with knife in hand.” —Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince (classic)
“Business as usual in eclipse / goes down to the sea in ships.” —Robert Lowell, "Waking Early Sunday Morning”
“Clown: there is no true cuckold but calamity.” —William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act 1, scene 5
“In his prime, / Ere the pruning-knife of Time / Cut him down, / Not a better man was found.” —Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., "The Last Leaf
“Age with stealing steps has clawed me.” — Thomas Vaux, "The Aged Lover Renounceth Love"
“Living now in death's immediate neighborhood, he was developing a soldier's jaunty indifference.”—John Updike, "Playing With Dynamite," The New Yorker, October 5, 1992
Some worst cases include these sorts of things—
The artless & chaotic:
“The blood of the mind fell / to the floor. I slept.” —Wallace Stevens, "A Weak Mind in the Mountains"
What the hell is “blood of the mind”? Did you sleep on the floor? What is going on?
And the excruciatingly banal sorts:
“Her skill as an executive was sometimes overshadowed by a reputation for an abrasive, take-no-prisoners style.” —Bernard Weinraub, The New York Times, August 30,1993
How did this make the cut?
Well, it seems I wrote a review anyway.
Sorry. 😂
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews