Issue 137 – July 2024
An ‘aggressive stapler’ and more super similes
“Use the world around you as a playground to stretch your skills at using analogy and metaphor.” – Jacqui Banaszynski
When it comes to explaining complicated material, one helpful tool is what I call "expressive writing." That's using analogies – similes and metaphors – to spark an “aha” moment of understanding. (And couldn’t we all use a shortcut to understanding these days?)
Similes use the words “like” or “as” to compare the unknown to known. (“Love is like a red, red rose.”) Metaphors show how two things are alike without using those words. (“Love is a battlefield.”)
Here are some examples of super similes I’ve found:
“Scientists have revealed fossils of a giant salamander-like beast with sharp fangs...The predator, which was larger than a person, likely used its wide, flat head and front teeth to suck in and chomp unsuspecting prey, researchers said… ‘It’s acting like an aggressive stapler,’ said Michael Coates, a biologist at the University of Chicago...” – Adithi Ramakrishnan, Associated Press
“She finds a narrative thread and brings readers along as she tugs — gently, like untangling a delicate silver chain — and unravels a story that reveals the soul at the story’s center.” – Jude Isabella, Hakai Magazine
“The link between exposure to high levels of the drug and adverse effects in individual patients was ‘absolutely scientifically clear,’ said Gallie…’It was like turning the light switch on in your bathroom.’” – Rachel Mendleson, Toronto Star
“The name of the game [with male fish building nests for females to lay eggs] is to build almost an amphitheatre for the sound. Think about it as a concert hall, if you will. It’s a rock wall nest they sing from [to attract mates].” – scientist Kieran Cox quoted by The Canadian Press
“In a whimsical sort of way, Ashkan Ebadi thinks of his COVID-detecting artificial intelligence as a kind of virtual Sherlock Holmes. Like the famed detective, the AI searches for clues; only its sleuthing is through medical imagery to seek out the presence of COVID.” – as reported in the Toronto Star
“These long-spined sea urchins, or Diadema antillarum, are prickly black creatures that hide out in reefs across the Caribbean. They play a key role as ‘lawnmowers’ of the reef, [study author Mya] Breitbart said, eating up the algae that grows on corals.” – Japan News
Where do you find ideas for analogies?
“Use the world around you as a playground to stretch your skills at using analogy and metaphor,” says Jacqui Banaszynski, journalist, teacher and story coach. She suggests:
- Think of the audience. Will the bulk of them understand your shorthand references?
- Educate yourself. Google the derivation of a phrase or term. You might misunderstand it yourself.
- Pay attention to other writers and let their language inspire yours.
- Play with words. Anytime, anywhere and without limits.
Have you seen any super similes? Please share! I’m always looking for good examples.
A reader responded to the June issue about being allies with a comment on the advice not to use a “deadname.” What do you think about using “birth name” instead?
“Thanks for this most relevant post! One thought, though – I wonder if anyone ever spares a thought for the parents of trans people. I am one, although I only discovered this about three years ago. I have to say, when I first heard the term ‘deadname,’ it was like a knife in my heart. I gave my child that name, and loved my child with that name for 34 years. There’s nothing dead about it. I understand why she doesn’t want to be called it anymore, and of course I don’t, even when referring to her in conversation with someone else. She’s legally changed it, to boot. I just find the word very hurtful.”
Related reading:
Shift imagery to avoid clichés in your analogies – Ann Wylie
Comparisons help us understand the likelihood of a major earthquake
Recently in the Red Jacket Diaries:
Interviewing, quoting and more writing tips in links you might have missed
11 tips to make the most of attending a conference
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