Metaphors: Muddled, Mixed And Mangled

Lift Your Language

Metaphors add colour and life to language but, usually, less is more.

They are best used as simple and standalone devices; mixed metaphors mangle meaning.

This is an infamous example of a mishmash of metaphors. You’ve probably heard it before:

He opened the floodgates to a Pandora’s box of worms.

Whoever first said it (if anyone really did) clearly liked the idea of ‘opening the floodgates’ enough to use the same concept again in ‘opening Pandora’s box’ and, once again, in ‘opening a can of worms’.

Clichés aside, any one of them might have worked, but three?

Result: a metaphor mess.

Unfortunate combinations of metaphors are sometimes called ‘malaphors’ and are used for comic effect – for example:

A stitch in time heals all wounds.
If life gives you lemons, look for the silver lining.
Don’t bite the hand that rocks the cradle.

Mixed metaphors and clashing imagery

The type of mixed metaphor that causes most problems for writers is the use of two conflicting images or two incompatible metaphors in the same idea.

No need to explain why these are silly:

If you’ve got a bee in your bonnet, it’s best to get it off your chest.
We need to nip this in the bud and hit the ground running.

Some sentences might not have two distinct metaphors but still have a clash of imagery – as in this example:

Hone your writing skills with a daily dose of grammar tips.

‘To hone’ means to sharpen and refine. You certainly can’t ‘hone’ skills with a ‘dose’ of anything.

A slightly better sentence would have been:

Hone your skills for sharp and witty writing.

Or, to play with the other image:

Perk up your writing with a daily dose of grammar tips.

They’re not brilliant but at least they have unity (consistency) of imagery.

Confused imagery

I saw this ‘commanding’ sentence recently. It fails in the same way the last examples did.

Stay attuned to the frontier of AI innovation!

You can’t be ‘attuned’ to a frontier. It’s nonsense.

Instead, perhaps:

Join the pioneers on the frontiers of AI innovation.

Or this:

Stay attuned to the latest news and discussions about AI innovation.
(This isn’t metaphor or even figurative language but at least it makes sense)

I also read this:

Propel your professional trajectory.

Sorry. Can’t be done. You can propel an object or, metaphorically, your career but a trajectory (in simple terms) is the path followed by a projectile. And you definitely can’t propel it.

You could, however:

Propel your career along the path to success.

Or perhaps:

Plan the trajectory of your professional career.

I came across this final one some years ago.

Writing about the imminent release of sensitive documents in a ‘whistle-blower’ scenario, an earnest reporter announced:

More leaks in the pipeline.

Probably not the imagery he had in his mind. The story was ‘awash’ with possibilities.

The take-away: Don’t mangle your meaning with mixed metaphors.

They are beautiful tools, blunted by misuse.

Now that’s a metaphor!