Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Or would that be a late spring afternoon?

Lots of people find the difference between a metaphor, a simile and an analogy a tad confusing. But there’s no need to get your undergarments in a twirl over this one. It’s relatively simple to explain … though much harder to do well.

Metaphors should make us see the picture the writer hopes to paint more clearly. They do this by connecting two familiar things which don’t literally go together, for example: a lion in battle, the Iron Curtain, nestling at the foot of the mountain.

But how easy is it to choose the right contrasting terms for successful imagery? One might prefer a crocodile to a lion to face down and defeat one’s foe, (the lion may well just look impressive, but leave the real hunt to their mate).   However, ‘he was a crocodile in battle’ just doesn’t cut it. Nor, come to think of it, does the Steel Curtain or the toes of the mountain.

Once we pop in ‘like’ or ‘as’, then the metaphor becomes a simile. ‘She was as brown as a Ronsealed shed door’, or ‘she had a pure white complexion – like a freshly boiled and peeled egg’, are technically correct but lack poetry. True, you won’t be accused of using clichés, but you probably won’t be transporting your reader to higher or nobler realms either.

One can think of an analogy as a kind of conceptual metaphor. They typically help people understand a scientific or legal point more easily or fully. The most common example of an analogy tends to be the old hazelnut of comparing the atom and the solar system, which shows patterns of similarity between how the two behave. This helps us visualise how far one is like the other, enabling us not only to understand the principles but also to memorise them more easily.

Used very sparingly, all the above can add spice and colour to your writing. But if in doubt, choose plainer language. And avoid clichés like the plague.

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