Similes

Simile

Simile

Figure of speech marked by explicit comparison

Not to be confused with Smile.

A simile (/ˈsɪməli/) is a figure of speech that directly compares two things.[1][2] Similes differ from metaphors by highlighting the similarities between two things using comparison words such as "like", "as", "so", or "than",[3] while metaphors create an implicit comparison (i.e. saying something "is" something else).[1][4] This distinction is evident in the etymology of the words: simile derives from the Latin word similis ("similar, like"), while metaphor derives from the Greek word metapherein ("to transfer").[5] As in the case of metaphors, the thing that is being compared is called the tenor, and the thing it is being compared to is called the vehicle.[6] Author and lexicographer Frank J. Wilstach compiled a dictionary of similes in 1916, with a second edition in 1924.

Uses

In literature

How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.[10]
Stopping her from going was like trying to catch a bullet with a pair of tweasers, impossible.[10]
Learning to drive was like a deer learning how to walk for the first time. Stumbling until you get it right.[10]

In comedy

Similes are used extensively in British comedy, notably in the slapstick era of the 1960s and 1970s. In comedy, the simile is often used in negative style: "he was as daft as a brush." They are also used in comedic context where a sensitive subject is broached, and the comedian will test the audience with response to subtle implicit simile before going deeper.[11] The sitcom Blackadder featured the use of extended similes, normally said by the title character. For example:

Baldrick: I have a plan, sir.
Blackadder: Really, Baldrick? A cunning and subtle one?
Baldrick: Yes, sir.
Blackadder: As cunning as a fox who's just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University?[12]

In languages other than English

Given that similes emphasize affinities between different objects, they occur in many cultures and languages.

Arabic

Sayf al-Din al-Amidi discussed Arabic similes in 1805: "On Substantiation Through Transitive Relations".

Vietnamese

Thuy Nga Nguyen and Ghil'ad Zuckermann (2012) classify Vietnamese similes into two types: Meaning Similes and Rhyming Similes.

The following is an example:

Nghèo

/ŋɛu

như

ɲɯ

con

kɔn

mèo

mɛu/

Nghèo như con mèo

/ŋɛu ɲɯ kɔn mɛu/

"Poor as a cat"

Whereas the above Vietnamese example is of a rhyming simile, the English simile "(as) poor as a church mouse" is only a semantic simile.[13]

Telugu

In Telugu, simile is known as upamaalankaaramu (ఉపమాలంకారము). Based on the components of the sentence in which the comparison is made, they are classified into complete (పూర్ణోపమాలంకారము- puurnopamaalankaaramu) and incomplete (లుప్తోపమాలంకారము- lupthopamaalankaaramu) similes. The classic example of a complete simile is: ఆమె ముఖము చంద్రబింబము వలెనున్నది (Her face looks like a moon).

See also

For a list of words relating to similes, see the English similes category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

  1. [1]
    The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms (2nd ed.). Bedford/St. Martins. 2003. pp. 447–448. ISBN 978-0312259105.
  2. [2]
    "Simile". Literary Terms. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  3. [3]
    "LitCharts".
  4. [4]
    "Oxford Reference: metaphor and simile". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  5. [5]
    "Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  6. [6]
    "What Is A Simile?". English Like A Native. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  7. [7]
    Burns, Robert. "A Red Red Rose". Glen Collection of Printed Music, Vol. 5. National Library of Scotland. p. 415. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  8. [8]
    Murfin, Ross; Ray, Supryia M. (2003). The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms (2nd ed.). Bedford/St. Martins. pp. 135. ISBN 978-0312259105.
  9. [9]
    Milton, John (1852). Henry John Todd (ed.). The Poetical Works of John Milton: With Notes of Various Authors; and with Some Account of the Life and Writings of Milton, Derived Principally from Original Documents in Her Majesty's State-paper Office. Rivingtons, Longman and Company. p. 62.
  10. [10]
    William Hall, ed. (1850). Encyclopædia of English Grammar: Designed for the Use of Schools, Academies, and Private Learners. Scott and Bascom. p. 352.
  11. [11]
    "What Is A Simile?". Funny Similes!. Retrieved 2016-04-06.[permanent dead link]
  12. [12]
    Edmund_Blackadder (2016-05-02). "Blackadder Series 4 Episode 6 Goodbyeee Full Script". Blackadder Quotes. Archived from the original on 8 January 2024. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  13. [13]
    See p. 98 in Thuy Nga Nguyen and Ghil'ad Zuckermann (2012), "Stupid as a Coin: Meaning and Rhyming Similes in Vietnamese", International Journal of Language Studies 6 (4), pp. 97-118.

Further reading

  • Beck, Deborah (2023). The stories of similes in Greek and Roman epic. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108481793.
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