Hickey blog entry—
Metaphors heard in life—
- Hard as nails. Describing how tough someone is, usually to imply that someone shouldn’t be messed with. That person’s attitude can also be sharp or abrasive, like the point of a nail.
- It’s either feast or famine—with regards to how busy we are at work. More than once on my employee evaluations it has said that whether it is feast or famine, I’m able to find some kind of work to do. There always seems to either be too much to get done, or not enough to do during a shift at work. There’s never an in between.
- Blind as a bat. Difficult to see things. Either that it’s literally dark outside or that it’s hard to see without the aid of glasses or contacts. Mostly I hear this used with relation to people’s eyesight.
- Quiet as a mouse. Someone who doesn’t talk a lot. Alternatively, someone who’s normal speaking voice is very quiet.
- Mad as a hornet. Someone with a hot temper. Someone not to be messed with, like how hornets are spiteful bugs.
- I’m so rich everything’s free. Someone high in society with a ridiculous amount of money. The speaker also probably is relatively stuck up if they’re mentioning something like this in the first place, or at the very least has little regard for things like fines or price tags.
- Tired as hell. Beyond being ‘regularly’ tired. This implies a deep tiredness, and usually also implies that someone might also be in a bad mood.
- Glued to their phone. This is usually used in reference to teens/tweens who spend a lot of time with their phones. Adults often complain of how much time younger generations spend looking at a screen in some way, shape, or form.
- Head in the clouds. Someone who isn’t paying attention, but not always in a bad way. This is a person who may be easily distracted.
- I need this like a hole in the head. Used to imply that something is unnecessary to the point that it’s detrimental to them. This is something that the speaker wants absolutely no part of or in.
Hickey discusses nonmetaphorical concepts with directional language like “up/down, back/front, and in/out” (13). One of the metaphors listed—head in the clouds—works well with this concept. While not listed, “up” is implied with that—“Their head is up in the clouds”. This is where my thoughts on this being a relatively happy or “good feeling” metaphor come from. Hickey mentions that when using the directional words, things like “up/down” can correspond with emotions, like “happy/sad” (13). If your head is up in the clouds, you’re day dream-y and happy, versus being down in the dumps and being sad. Looking at figures of speech and thought with Hickey, this is used to “embellish ideas” (3). This works well for “tired as hell”. “Hell” cannot be tired; it’s not a person, and has no feelings or emotions. Yet using this in a creative way shows the listener that the speaker is way past tired and needs time to rest. “Glued to their phone” works well with the idea of figures of speech as well, as people are not literally gluing their phones to their hands.
Language & Rhetoric 