What Are Your Favorite Metaphors?

8 replies
The well thought out metaphor is extremely powerful and a mind blowing persuader.

Here are a couple of examples:

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" - Muhammad Ali

"Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago" - Warren Buffet

And, here are some really common ones. . .

"Cool as a cucumber"
"Where there's smoke, there's fire"
"You can't teach an old dog new tricks"

Point is metaphors focus on your point very persuasively by presenting a direct comparison from one point to another bypassing the prospect's analytical thinking and natural resistance. They are an indispensable part of copy writing.

What are your favorite Metaphors? A shared list of them would be a huge help to all writers in this forum. Which ones do you like best?
#favorite #metaphors
  • Profile picture of the author sethczerepak
    Most of my favorites are original, I have a collection that I've been working on for years. Here are a few of my favorites:

    • Dishonest enough to steal the pennies off a dead man’s eyes.
    • His breath was bad enough to take the paint off a car.
    • It was like watching a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Mr. Rogers.
    • It felt like crawling naked over barbed wire.
    • It melted away like butter dripping off a hot biscuit.
    • Bigger than (big as) the great pyramid.
    • Enough money to buy the Great Wall of China.
    • Madder than a cat in a burlap sack.
    • Like giving a root canal to a crocodile (or Tasmanian devil).
    • Oozed over me like warm honey.
    • Happier than a kid in a Jello pool.
    • The King Kong of ____.
    • The Rosetta Stone of ____.
    • The Hulk Hogan of ____.
    • The Mike Tyson of ____.
    • The Taj Mahal of _____.
    • The Mahatma Gandhi of ____.
    • The Moses of _____.
    • Like being naked in front of the whole third grade class.
    • Like a kid being sent to timeout.
    • Purgatory for "target market"or "target market" purgatory.
    • The gurgling cesspool of ____.
    • If it was between that and drinking vomit, I’d have to sit down and think about it.
    • Like juggling hand grenades.
    • Like choking down tequila flavored cough syrup.
    • So good, if you threw it up into the air it would turn to sunshine.
    • Like a bucket of ice water.
    • Like wearing a barbed wire g-string (or jock strap).
    • Like shooting a spit ball at a freight train.
    • Like a freight train with bicycle brakes.
    • Like a roach on a birthday cake.
    • Polishing brass on the Titanic.
    • Like a bucket of vomit with a cherry on top.
    • Like being on a seesaw with a sumo wrestler.
    • Looked like he’d been playing patty cake with Edward Scissorhands.
    • Blood pressure high enough to break the Hoover Damn.
    • It was like gargling sandspurs.
    • So skinny he looked like a stack of spare ribs.
    • It felt like a turtleneck on a hot day.
    • The courage and determination of Rocky Balboa and the heart of Mother Theresa.
    • The intellectual prowess of an Ivory league graduate and the tenacity of an alley fighter.
    • Copywriting that could chew through a steel pipe
    • So hot you could cook an egg on top of it.
    • Like flossing with barbed wire.
    • Does ____ have you in a rear naked chokehold?
    • Like a tribe of cannibals chewing on themselves
    • It was like killing a fly with a sledgehammer
    • It was like lighting a cigarette with a flame thrower
    • It was like trying to drink from a hire hose
    • It was like trying to land an airplane on a tightrope
    • His smile was a row of broken candles dripping with yellow wax
    • His hand was a limp dishrag
    • It will be like plunging into a pool of cool Jello
    • His voice was the lovechild of a tuba and a chainsaw
    • Running like a Swiss clock.
    • Couldn’t sell sleeping pills to an insomniac.
    • It was like crawling naked over a poison oak patch
    • Copywriting that chews up nails and spits out diamonds.
    • It was like driving at night with sunglasses and no headlights.
    • Products that look like they came out of the bottom of a cracker jack box.
    • You can’t serve caviar and cheeseburgers from the same kitchen.
    • Longer than a giraffe’s necktie
    • The pied piper of (industry)
    • He was a shark amongst clownfish
    • She was a flower that had grown out of a pot of dirt/worms
    • She was a rose amongst dandelions
    • He was sharp as a tack, a very dull one
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8214536].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Hapningnow
      I must say these were very entertaining - haven't heard quite of few them, but might have to start using them!
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8214550].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author George Hutton
        Some of my own personal favorites are from Beastie Boys songs:

        Words together like birds in a flock
        and yes rhymes on time like the hands of a clock.

        -------

        I got more action than my man John Woo
        and I got mad hits like I was Rod Carew!

        ---------


        Then there are some I've collected from various sources:

        -as useful as a cock flavored lollypop
        -get out of your system before you need dialysis
        -like a blind guy grasping for straws in a knife shop
        -go together like traffic and weather
        -like a fruit fly on a plastic orange
        -he got more game than a pheasant hunt
        -drop her panties like my iphone drops calls
        Signature
        Free tools to easily and naturally program your mind for automatic success.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8216778].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author ReferralCandy
    Lately I've been obsessed with Seth Godin's statement "BMW has a marketing department called engineering." I think that effectively communicates how marketing is far, far deeper than just appearances and presentation.
    Signature

    Measure, manage and incentivize customer referrals with ReferralCandy.

    PS: Looking to get more repeat customers for a physical store? Check out CandyBar's digital loyalty cards!

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8216791].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Coke
    Originally Posted by LastingLifeSuccess View Post

    Here are a couple of examples:

    "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" - Muhammad Ali
    That's a simile!
    Here's my favorite metaphor:
    "Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor."
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8226979].message }}
  • From the book - I Never Metaphor I Didn't Like

    I Never Metaphor I Didn't Like: A Comprehensive...I Never Metaphor I Didn't Like: A Comprehensive...

    A few samples -


    Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.

    If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction.

    Writing without thinking is like shooting without aiming.

    Everybody, soon or later, sits down to a banquet of consequences.

    When suffering knocks at your door and you say there is no seat for him, he tells you not to worry because he has brought his own chair.

    Every person’s work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of that person.

    Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window.

    There are people who so arrange their lives that they feed themselves only on side dishes.

    Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects.

    Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.


    Steve
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8227302].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Igor Fridrihs
    Hey,

    Here are some business metaphors:

    1. "Belts and Suspenders" - To play it safe. "Let's make sure we go belts and suspenders on this pitch. We don't want to lose their existing business."

    2. "Dog and Pony Show" - A presentation that is so simple that it insults the audience. "These 22 year old consultants come in here with their Dog and Pony Show and act like we don't know our [expletive] from our [expletive]!"

    3. "Boil the Ocean" - A project whose scope is so large that it would be impossible to succeed. "Guys, we need to trim back. We are trying to boil the ocean here."

    4. "Whack-A-Mole" - A manager who only takes care of things when problems arise. "This lady's a complete Whack-A-Mole. She doesn't pay attention to crap until there are red flags."

    5. "Making Sausage" - Talking about how much money you are going to make off a client while in the presence of a client. "Jerry and John got fired last week for making sausage."

    6. "Run it up the flagpole to see who salutes" - Running an idea by a group of people to see what they think. "Hey Judy - why don't you take this over to Marketing and run it up the flagpole to see who salutes."

    7. "Biggie-Sizes at McDonalds and Supersizes at Wendy's" - An employee who brings forth his best effort but just truly has no idea what's going on. "Timmy's a great guy - he gets in early and leaves late. But the dude biggie sizes at McDonalds and supersizes at Wendy's if you catch my drift."

    8. "You're on a gravy train with biscuit wheels" - Someone with a very easy job that pays good money, but it may not last too much longer. As seen on Kingpin when Ernie McCracken yells to Roy Munson, "You're on a Gravy Train with biscuit wheels!"
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8227668].message }}

Trending Topics