|
Simile
A form of expression using like or as, in which one thing is compared to another which it only resembles in one or a small number of ways.
Examples:
Her hair was like silk.
She sings like an angel.
He runs like a gazelle.
This meat is as dry as a bone.
Metaphor
A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison.
Examples:
He's a tiger when he’s angry.
His brother is an Einstein.
Your room is a pigpen.
She is a walking dictionary.
According to the internet, English teachers from across the country can submit amusing similes and metaphors found in high school essays for an annual competition. We don’t know that such a competition really exists, but these samples, even if awful, are still creative.
1. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
2. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
3. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
4. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
5. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
6. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
7. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.
8. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.
9. Shots rang out, as shots are known to do.
10. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
|
View and comment on this
article on our website.
|
|
A Note to Teachers and Parents
We at GrammarBook.com want to help make teaching English grammar and punctuation less stressful during this potentially difficult period when many students are sheltering in place and schools are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From March 25, 2020, through May 31, 2020, we are cutting the price in half for any new Quiz Subscriptions for Teachers, Parents, and Employers. Click on Subscription Quizzes for the details.
|
Free BONUS Quiz for You!
[[firstname]], because you are a subscriber to the newsletter, you get access to one of the Subscribers-Only Quizzes. Click here to take a Semicolons and Colons Quiz and get your scores and explanations instantly!
We will be adding many more quizzes this year to our already substantial list of quizzes. If you have suggestions for topics we have not yet covered, please send us a message at help@grammarbook.com.
|
Hundreds of Additional Quizzes
at Your Fingertips
Subscribe now to receive hundreds of additional English usage quizzes not found anywhere else!
Teachers and Employers
Save hours of valuable time! You may assign quizzes to your students and employees and have their scores tallied, organized, and reported to you! Let GrammarBook.com take the hassle out of teaching English!
"Fun to test my skills."
"The explanations really help ... thanks!"
"I can select the quizzes to assign to my students, and then the results are reported to me automatically!"
|
|
Don't need all the quizzes?
You can now purchase the same quizzes individually for ONLY 99¢ each.
Purchase yours here. |
If you think you have found an error in a quiz, please email us at help@grammarbook.com
|
 |
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
by Jane Straus, Lester Kaufman, and Tom Stern |
The Authority on English Grammar! Eleventh Edition Now Available
An indispensable tool for busy professionals, teachers, students, homeschool families, editors, writers, and proofreaders.
Available in print AND as an e-Book! Over 2,000 copies are purchased every month!
The publisher of The Blue Book, Jossey-Bass, A Wiley brand, is offering a 35 percent discount for those of you who order the book through Wiley.com. Shipping and tax are not included. Simply go to bit.ly/1996hkA and use discount code E9X4A.
Offer expires December 31, 2020.
|
Wordplay
|
 |
English In A Snap:
68 One-Minute English Usage Videos FREE |
Learn all about who and whom, affect and effect, subjects and verbs, adjectives and adverbs, commas, semicolons, quotation marks, and much more by just sitting back and enjoying these easy-to-follow lessons. Tell your colleagues (and boss), children, teachers, and friends. Click here to watch.
|
|
