About metaphors, similes and analogies – and pancakes & surfing

Have you found yourself saying something like, “this project is like a pancake party, because it’s easy in theory but in practice it’s one hot sticky mess” – and then, upon seeing people’s faces, you realize you need to quickly recover and brighten up the mood. So you try brushing your own comment off by saying something neutral, as in, “okay, that was maybe not a good analogy – or, I mean, was it a metaphor? Or maybe it’s a simile. Anyhow, what I mean is, let’s make this project feel more like a party again. Any ideas?”

Nice save.

But let’s backtrack a little – what was this statement, though?

I am often at a loss myself so I looked it up online, and I found some lovely examples and descriptions. Maybe the shortest and clearest is to be found on Copyblogger.com:

“A metaphor is a figure of speech that uses one thing to mean another and makes a comparison between the two.

A simile compares two different things in order to create a new meaning.

An analogy is comparable to metaphor and simile in that it shows how two different things are similar, but it’s a bit more complex.”

Still need an example, I do, so let’s try these from Writer’s Digest:

“Metaphor: Time is a thief.

Simile: Time is like a thief.

Analogy: Time is like a thief in that thieves steal physical objects and time steals moments of our lives.

Metaphor: Joe is a pig.

Simile: Joe is as dirty as a pig.

Analogy: Joe's sense of personal hygiene is on the same level as a pig that rolls around in dirt and mud all day.

All three use comparisons, but they're not exactly the same. One point to remember is that metaphors and similes are figures of speech, while an analogy is a type of argument. A metaphor is something, a simile is like something, and an analogy explains how one thing being like another helps explain them both.”

Many people won’t bother too much, they will focus on what you’re trying to convey. And I only started the topic because I wanted to convey this idea: don’t use metaphors for everything.

Surfing (C) Anne-Leen De Coninck

I recently went for my very first surfing trip and it was amazing.

And while I was in the water, my knees scratched and sore, facing yet another gigantic (to me, at least) wave, this realization came to me: I can make up hundreds of analogies between surfing, waves and life. I can let the wave and the surf be metaphors for tons of things in coaching and leadership.

And I didn’t want to.

Because I just wanted to be in the water, getting hit by the wave, and getting on my board again.

So that’s all I wanted to share: when you go surfing, surf. Don’t think about metaphors, analogies or similes.

Just be with the waves.