Better Communication

Better Communication

When Figurative Language Fails: Part 1

Lift Your Language

Janette Parr Consulting's avatar
Janette Parr Consulting
Jun 24, 2025
∙ Paid

We love to use figurative language. It adds colour, interest and extra emphasis to points we want to make. When it’s wrongly applied, though, it ruins the image completely.

Unfortunately, speakers and writers like to copy phrases that have impressed them without thinking about what they really mean.

Here’s a couple of examples of figurative language that fail.

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