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In this article:

https://blog.prepscholar.com/simile-vs-metaphor

The author uses a popular Katy Perry lyric "baby you're a firework" as an example of a metaphor.

Katy Perry could just have easily said "baby you're like a firework" but it wouldn't have sounded as good.

So isn't this kind of like a "fake metaphor"? It is a very simile-like comparison but people call it a metaphor just because it doesn't use the words "like" or "as".

To provide a different example, if I were to say that I longed for connection to my spouse but due to past trauma I found myself hiding behind a wall, that seems a much stronger example of a metaphor.

In order to express the same sentiment as a simile, I would have to say something like:

I longed for connection to my spouse, but due to past trauma I had distanced myself by creating a set of behaviours that were like a wall.

So you could still say the same thing as a simile but it would be totally stupid.

Therefore shouldn't we be teaching people that if you can insert the word like or as into the metaphor without making any substantial changes to the syntax, then it's not really a metaphor?

Iain Dooley
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  • I like this assertion in the relevant Wikipedia article: the difference between them [metaphor and simile] might be described (metaphorically) as the distance between things being compared**. – FumbleFingers Apr 20 '21 at 11:23
  • Comes pretty close. That simile is a subset of metaphor makes sense. What I would like to argue is that saying "you're a firecracker" (or firework) is actually a simile despite not using the words like or as. – Iain Dooley Apr 20 '21 at 11:25
  • @FumbleFingers in the case I'm highlighting above, there's no difference between the distance of the two things being compared in the "simile" version and the "metaphor" version. It's simply that English speakers will accept the sentence without the words like or as being included. If all similes are metaphors as pointed out by Edwin above, then that's cool we just say it's both a simile and a metaphor. But when teaching grammar the common wisdom is to say that if you omit the words like or as then it turns your simile into a non-simile kind of metaphor, which I disagree with. – Iain Dooley Apr 20 '21 at 11:34
  • Personally, I think once you go beyond the most elementary level, trying to categorise all "figurative" usages into EITHER "metaphor" OR "simile" is about as useful as trying to categorise all "conditional" constructions as falling into one of the 4 (or 5?, or more?) "numbered conditionals". Such simplified categories might be useful in the early stages of learning about whatever they represent, but at a certain level they become more of a hindrance than a help. I doubt serious linguists would concern themselves with the simile / metaphor distinction, for example - only hidebound grammarians! – FumbleFingers Apr 20 '21 at 12:16
  • @FumbleFingers and yet the Wikipedia article you linked to contradicts that. It states:

    "Metaphors are often compared with other types of figurative language, such as antithesis, hyperbole, metonymy and simile"

    It then goes on to use an example of a metaphor that illustrates exactly the problem I'm demonstrating. If you were to put the word "like" in there, that metaphor would be a simile. If simile is a subset of metaphor, cool. If not, problem.

     – Iain Dooley Apr 20 '21 at 12:21
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    I think when you're at school and quite young you're taught that similes involve "like" or "as" and metaphors don't. Like most things taught to younger children, it's a gross oversimplification, but trying to replace it with another simplification is doomed to failure. – Stuart F Apr 20 '21 at 12:23
  • Iain Dooley: The Wikipedia article used to say "simile is a subset of metaphor" (over a decade ago, when I upvoted it). If you find such endless academic squabbling over terminology interesting then good for you. Me, I'm with @StuartF on this one! – FumbleFingers Apr 20 '21 at 12:26
  • @StuartF it's not difficult to simplify. All you need is some examples. That's how intelligent systems learn. So if we were to say that when you use the words like or as to compare two things, or you could simply insert the words like or as without changing anything else, it's a simile which is a kind of metaphor, that'd be just as easy to understand as what we currently teach. But there are a plethora of authoritative sources for adult consumption that don't make this distinction. – Iain Dooley Apr 20 '21 at 12:30
  • @FumbleFingers if a stackexchange forum about grammar isn't interested in squabbling over academic terminology then what the hell is it doing here? – Iain Dooley Apr 20 '21 at 12:30
  • ...but what I do find interesting these days is just how good Google is getting at processing "natural language" queries. I just Googled is a simile a type of metaphor, and Google helpfully presents me with a text box saying You can use metaphors* and similes when creating an analogy. A simile is a type of metaphor. All similes are metaphors, but not all metaphors are similes. 8 Nov 2020* (emphasis theirs, which impresses me even more). – FumbleFingers Apr 20 '21 at 12:33
  • Metaphor is a topic discussed a lot in philosophy of language and related fields. There's no clear definition of metaphor that all philosophers would agree to. So asking for a clear, universal, unambiguous definition of a metaphor or simile is a fool's errand. If you're interested in the academic debate you could start here: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/metaphor/ – Stuart F Apr 20 '21 at 12:34
  • I'm sure there will be a "Christianity" subsite within the Stack Exchange family. But I kinda doubt they still spend their time discussing how many angels could dance on the head of a pin! – FumbleFingers Apr 20 '21 at 12:37
  • @FumbleFingers there is, and they spend plenty of time discussing religious minutiae. I'm not sure if "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin" qualifies ... – Iain Dooley Apr 20 '21 at 12:40
  • Well, I'm sure you'll find at least some people here on ELU who still want to kick the metaphor/simile distinction around - if not on the main site, at least in "chat". – FumbleFingers Apr 20 '21 at 12:58
  • The argument proposed doesn’t hold. If it is valid to claim that simile and metaphor are equivalent because you can transform one into the other by inserting a word, then you’ll need to accept that assertion and negation are also equivalent because you can similarly transform one into the other by adding “not”. Inserting “like” doesn’t preserve the semantics. It’s possible to argue that it might not change the intent in some cases, but that depends on the speaker and can’t be argued based on just the form of the text. – Lawrence Apr 20 '21 at 23:15
  • @Lawrence your conclusion that "inserting like doesn't preserve the semantics" is a non sequitur. Whether or not situations exist where the meaning can be dramatically changed by inserting a word doesn't imply that inserting a word always dramatically changes the meaning. For example many in the US will say "couple days" instead of "couple of days". The "of" is implied and therefore omitted. Saying someing "is a firecracker" or that they are "like a firecracker" are functionally the same statement, whereas saying someone "had egg on their face" is a much stronger metaphor. – Iain Dooley Apr 21 '21 at 14:15
  • You’ve misunderstood my point. Will adding like change the semantics? Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. My point is that you won’t be able to tell from just the form (with like or without like). You will need information from the broader context or even from he author directly. Finding instances where a simile was intended but like was omitted doesn’t validate your assertion that something isn’t a metaphor merely on the syntactic grounds you close your question with. Syntax doesn’t reach into intent. To get to intent and meaning, you need to talk about semantics. – Lawrence Apr 21 '21 at 15:13

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The real difference is the degree of similarity and signifies the degree of intensity.

Katy is a firework

states equality. Its degree of similarity is higher than

Katy is like a firework

A metaphor is simply a more intense simile.

Mozibur Ullah
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  • I don't buy that. If you ask me Katy is a firework is an identical statement to Katy is like a firework. – Iain Dooley Apr 20 '21 at 11:22
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    The simile is as you say less 'intense', emphatic. But linguists would see both variants here as being the same metaphor (tenor, Kate / vehicle, firework / point of similarity, volatility? Touchiness? Intensity? Incandescence? – Edwin Ashworth Apr 20 '21 at 11:22
  • @Ian Dooley: No, they're not. Metaphors are a more intense form of simile and thats why they're often used in songs that want to evoke intense emotions. – Mozibur Ullah Apr 20 '21 at 11:34
  • @Ian Dooley: And this is flagged by different constructions and by a different names for the construction, namely simile and metaphor. – Mozibur Ullah Apr 20 '21 at 11:35
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    @MoziburUllah the statement "hearing her scream as the horses ripped her four limbs from her body was like a dagger penetrating the very centre of my brain and being twisted until there was nothing left but a bloody mass" is just as intense as saying "hearing her scream as the horses ripped her four limbs from her body was a dagger penetrating the very centre of my brain and being twisted until there was nothing left but a bloody mass". Omitting the word like here doesn't add intensity. – Iain Dooley Apr 20 '21 at 11:39
  • Is Katy a cardboard cylinder packed with gunpowder? – Michael Harvey Apr 20 '21 at 11:58
  • @IainDooley - what an imagination you have! – Michael Harvey Apr 20 '21 at 11:59
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    @IainDooley Actually it does add intensity. With like, the scream is something like a dagger; without like the scream becomes the dagger. (Of course, it isn't actually a dagger, which is why it's a metaphor.) – Andrew Leach Apr 20 '21 at 12:22
  • @AndrewLeach I'd say all the intensity in that statement comes from the imagery of a woman being ripped limb from limb, from the word scream, from the word penetrating, dagger and brain, and the words bloody and pulp. The word like is doing nothing for the intensity of the situation. – Iain Dooley Apr 20 '21 at 12:23
  • @MichaelHarvey thanks I was trying for intensity :) Katy is not that thing, she is like that thing, and my argument here is that since everyone knows that Katy is not that thing, the word "like" is implied. Unlike if I were to say:

    Bitcoin's value is purely speculative and the bubble will eventually burst. Whoever is left holding that hot potato when the bomb goes off will wind up with egg on their face.

    There are 4 metaphors there (albeit mixed LIKE a cocktail made by a drunken sailor), none of which can be turned into similes by simply adding the words "like" or "as".

     – Iain Dooley Apr 20 '21 at 12:26
  • @Michael Harvey: It sounds as imaginative as a sadistic misogynist to me ... in other words, not very. It's the kind of purple prose you find in cheap and trashy pulp thrillers. – Mozibur Ullah Apr 20 '21 at 12:31
  • @MoziburUllah next you'll be saying you disagree with my assessment on Bitcoin!!1 – Iain Dooley Apr 20 '21 at 12:36