Tuesday, 15 January 2013

15 January 2013 ~ OXYMORON, METAPHOR, ANALOGY; WORDS



 

A new year of blog writing beckons; and we’re off… 
 
Ever heard that expression, “Don’t look at me in that tone of voice”?  A long-winded oxymoron perhaps?  An oxymoron, by definition, is essentially where two words, that are the opposite of each other, can be used for the purpose of emphasis; at least that is my take on it. 
 
During my recent annual Holiday correspondence with friends old and new I had an interesting experience.  It was also a good reminder of another phrase oft heard in my days, "Perception is reality", which could mean something along the lines of, that which one perceives to be true; one believes to be true.  This is often the case whether it is real or not.  Example; a guy walks in to a restaurant and orders a steak and kidley pie.  The server says, “Steak and kidley!  Do you mean steak and kidney, sir?” and the guy replies, “That’s what I said diddle I?”  Or perhaps the lonely traveller that stops at a wayside inn for the night and is enjoying a glass of ale at the lounge bar of the inn.  There, in front of the roaring fire, is the innkeeper’s dog, a handsome St. Bernard that is curiously licking away at his canine genitals.  The traveller turns to the inn-keeper and says, jokingly, “I wish I could do that.”  To which the innkeeper replies, with a serious look on his face, “He’s a good dog; if you give him a biscuit, he’ll let you.” 
 
Where am I going with this?  With the spoken word, the chance of creating a misunderstanding in the message is quite small; above example accepted.  But the chance is much greater with the written word; such as an email or even this blog.  An old friend of mine and I were recently catching up with each other after about a year and somehow each other’s message got misinterpreted.  I had unintentionally offended my old friend, and in turn I felt offended also.  Words.  How carefully one must use them, yet how poorly one does at times; albeit unintentionally.  I am pleased to say that I believe it all worked out okay with my dear old friend of many years. 
 
Words.  So if we now know what an oxymoron is, the question that begs would be:  What, exactly, is a metaphor and analogy?  I could be wrong, but as I see it… 
 
Metaphor is just a figurative use of terms, in the context to which, they are not literally applicable; whereas analogy would be some sort of pesky noun that makes you itch and sneeze. 
 
Happy New Year!  I promise to work harder with my words!

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