Guest  +  14597 Tue, 02 Dec 03 03:22 AM I am having a problem differentiating between a metaphor and an idiom. Is there a quick and dirty way to tell the difference? Guest Metaphors, Idioms

	ryan smith  +  14708 Wed, 03 Dec 03 04:59 AM Idioms are peculiar. Even if one knows all the words that make one up, the meaning must be learned. That is, understanding the meanings of "get" and "along" individually does not really help in deciphering that "get along" can mean "to be friends with". Metaphors, on the other hand, create images in a reader's mind. If you know all the words that make up a metaphor, you have a good chance of getting the intended image. "Joe and Sue are bread and butter together" is a metaphor for Joe and Sue's good relationship. (I just pulled that one out of my head; I know it sounds terrible.) So, if you know all the words (bread, butter, together, etc) and you come from a culture where people enjoy eating bread with butter, you can easily undertand the meaning of the metaphor. More examples: "I had my lunch." (Idiom. It means "I ate my lunch", rather than the literal "I possessed my lunch".) "I wolfed my lunch." (Metaphor. I acted like a wolf with my lunch; I ate it like a wolf would.) Does this help? ryan smith Joined on Tue, Sep 9 2003 CLASSIFIED Full Member 199 Metaphors, Idioms

	Kooyeen  +  625103 Sun, 28 Dec 08 11:11 PM Anonymous “My girlfriend is a bit of a tough cookie.  Metaphor or Idiom?” Probably just an idiom, I guess... Kooyeen Joined on Thu, Dec 22 2005 Italy Senior Member 4,936 Parental Advisory / Explicit Posts

	CalifJim  +  625205 Mon, 29 Dec 08 01:46 AM Anonymous “My girlfriend is a bit of a tough cookie.  Metaphor or Idiom?” Both.  Many idioms begin their existence as metaphors.  If nearly everyone finds them clever, interesting, and/or useful, they become a fixed part of the language and are enshrined forever as idioms! CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,129 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Metaphors, Idioms, Relationships, Girlfriends, Languages

	CalifJim  +  813356 Fri, 10 Jul 09 04:04 AM In what way is she "like a tough cookie"? Is she half-baked?  No.  That would be like a soft cookie, I suppose. Or is she all dried out and stale?  Maybe she needs to be dunked in coffee or hot chocolate.  Or used as a doorstop. CJ CalifJim Metaphors, Idioms