Discussion Main / LiteralMetaphor

Would describing a Succubus as a "Harlot from Hell" count?

Linking to a past Trope Repair Shop thread that dealt with this page: Ambiguous Name, started by Agent2583 on Nov 17th 2019 at 3:37:22 PM

Seriously, like 90% of the examples listed here aren't the trope because they're not metaphors. Most are Exact Words or Double Meaning. I really wish contributors would familiarize themselves with what a metaphor is before adding. Metaphor: "A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable".

Good example of a literal metaphor:

• In Hocus Pocus, the witches sing "I Put a Spell on You" to a crowd of party-goers. It puts them into a trance.

Yes! This is a metaphor because it's referring to a figure of speech that's usually not literally applicable, comparing being in love to being under a spell.

Bad example (not a metaphor):

• In a Butterfinger commercial featuring The Simpsons, Bart is playing baseball, and Otto, who's sitting in the stands, tries to encourage Bart to "hit a homer, dude!". Bart then proceeds to hit the ball, which then "hits Homer" (i.e., the ball hits his father Homer who's also sitting in the stands).

Ok, so this is not a metaphor, it's a play on words. "Hitting a homer" means to hit a home run. It's not a figure of speech, it's a completely literal statement.

TL;DR: a literal metaphor is something that takes something that isn't typically literal and makes it literal.

''"Inverted with certain metaphors that used to be literal:

• Phrases such as "worth his/her salt" and "worth its weight in gold" stem from times when salt and gold were used as money.
• The original "pig in a poke" was a suckling pig sold in a burlap bag. Unscrupulous merchants would substitute a dog or cat instead, so this is also where we got the phrase "let the cat out of the bag".
• Being branded a coward, or being branded anything, came from the old tradition where soldiers caught fleeing from battle were punished by literally being branded a coward, with an actual red-hot brand being applied to the face.
• The phrase "getting your goat" comes from the tradition of keeping goats as companions for racing horses, which for some reason helps keep the horses more even-tempered. Unscrupulous race horse owners would try to steal the goats of rival horse-owners to upset their horses and make them too agitated to win races.
• There are at least two origins for the phrase "giving the cold shoulder" that are quite literal: it either involves turning your back on someone you don't want to talk to ("coldly" showing them your "shoulder"), or serving cold mutton shoulder to unwanted guests."''

I don't understand the inclusion of any of these on this page. Comparing one situation to another with which it shares figurative similarities is just... how all metaphors work? These examples just happen to have obscure origins because of Have a Gay Old Time, they're not an "inversion" of a metaphor literally coming true.

Does anyone remember a science fiction novel with a setting that plays about with gravity, in which the hero and heroine are literally attracted to each other?