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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998
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Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso
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Metaphor
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1992-09-03
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Greek `transfer' figure of speech using an
analogy or close comparison between two
things that are not normally treated as if
they had anything in common. Metaphor is a
common means of extending the uses and
references of words. See also simile. If we
call people cabbages or foxes, we are
indicating that in our opinion they share
certain qualities with those vegetables or
animals: an inert quality in the case of
cabbages, a cunning quality in the case of
foxes, which may lead on to calling people
`foxy' and saying `He really foxed them that
time', meaning that he tricked them. If a
scientist is doing research in the field of
nuclear physics, the word `field' results
from comparison between scientists and
farmers (who literally work in fields). Such
usages are metaphorical.