http://www.englishforums.com/English/EslGeneralEnglishGrammar-Questions/Forum12.htmAsk your questions on grammar and get your sentence checked. We answer lots of different types of general English grammar questions here.enXMOD (Build: 3598.39794)http://www.englishforums.com/English/IdiomsVsMetaphors/cqwl/post.htm#813356Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:04:14 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:813356CalifJim0http://www.englishforums.com/English/IdiomsVsMetaphors/cqwl/post.htm#813356http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-813356.xmlIn 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. CJhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/IdiomsVsMetaphors/cqwl/post.htm#812559Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:49:55 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:812559Anonymous1http://www.englishforums.com/English/IdiomsVsMetaphors/cqwl/post.htm#812559http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-812559.xmlIt's actually neither. It's a simile. (Simile = A comparison using "like" or "as".)http://www.englishforums.com/English/IdiomsVsMetaphors/cqwl/post.htm#625205Sun, 08 Feb 2009 09:25:32 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:625205CalifJim2http://www.englishforums.com/English/IdiomsVsMetaphors/cqwl/post.htm#625205http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-625205.xmlMy 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! CJhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/IdiomsVsMetaphors/cqwl/post.htm#625103Thu, 08 Jan 2009 09:25:32 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:625103Kooyeen3http://www.englishforums.com/English/IdiomsVsMetaphors/cqwl/post.htm#625103http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-625103.xmlMy girlfriend is a bit of a tough cookie. Metaphor or Idiom? Probably just an idiom, I guess...http://www.englishforums.com/English/IdiomsVsMetaphors/cqwl/post.htm#625102Sun, 08 Mar 2009 09:25:32 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:625102Anonymous4http://www.englishforums.com/English/IdiomsVsMetaphors/cqwl/post.htm#625102http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-625102.xmlMy girlfriend is a bit of a tough cookie. Metaphor or Idiom?http://www.englishforums.com/English/IdiomsVsMetaphors/cqwl/post.htm#14708Sun, 08 Mar 2009 09:25:32 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:14708ryan smith5http://www.englishforums.com/English/IdiomsVsMetaphors/cqwl/post.htm#14708http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-14708.xmlIdioms 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...http://www.englishforums.com/English/IdiomsVsMetaphors/cqwl/post.htmWed, 08 Apr 2009 08:25:32 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:14597Guest6http://www.englishforums.com/English/IdiomsVsMetaphors/cqwl/post.htmhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-14597.xmlI am having a problem differentiating between a metaphor and an idiom. Is there a quick and dirty way to tell the difference?