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simile

[sim-uh-lee]

simile [Lat.,=likeness], in rhetoric, a figure of speech in which an object is explicitly compared to another object. Robert Burns's poem "A Red Red Rose" contains two straightforward similes:

My love is like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June:
My love is like the melody
That's sweetly played in tune.

The epic, or Homeric, simile is an elaborate, formal, and sustained simile derived from those of Homer.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press

simile

Figure of speech involving a comparison between two unlike entities. In a simile, unlike a metaphor, the resemblance is indicated by the words “like” or “as.” Similes in everyday speech reflect simple comparisons, as in “He eats like a bird” or “She is slow as molasses.” Similes in literature may be specific and direct or more lengthy and complex. The Homeric, or epic, simile, which is typically used in epic poetry, often extends to several lines.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Simile

A simile is a technique that uses words such as "like" or "as" to compare two ideas. Even though similes and metaphors are both forms of comparison, similes allow the two ideas to remain distinct in spite of their similarities, whereas metaphors seek to equate two ideas despite their differences. For instance, a simile that compares a person with a bullet would go as follows: "John was a record-setting runner and as fast as a speeding bullet." A metaphor might read something like, "John was a record-setting runner. That speeding bullet could zip past you without you even knowing he was there."

A mnemonic for a simile is that "a simile is similar or alike."

Similes have been widely used in literature for their expressiveness as a figure of speech:

Curley was flopping like a fish on a line.
The very mist on the Essex marshes was like a gauzy and radiant fabric.
Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus.

Explicit similes

A simile can explicitly provide the basis of a comparison or leave this basis implicit. For instance, the following similes are implicit, leaving an audience to determine for themselves which features are being predicated of a target:

"My dad was a mechanic by trade when he was in the Army," Raymond Thompson said. "When he got the tools out, he was like a surgeon."
His mind is like a samurai's sword.

More detail is present in the following similes, but it is still a matter of inference as to what features are actually predicated of the target:

You may not live like a samurai, but you can die like a samurai.
He walks like a ninja and runs like a cat.
He drinks like a fish.
He fights like a lion.
He swims as fast as a fish.
He slithers like a snake.

In contrast, the following similes explicitly state the features that are predicated of each target:

His mind is as sharp as a samurai's sword.
When he got the tools out, he was as precise and thorough as a surgeon.
He drinks copiously like a fish.
She walks as gracefully and elegantly as a cat.
He was as a lion in the fight.

Unlike a metaphor, a simile can be as precise as the user needs it to be, to explicitly predicate a single feature of a target or to vaguely predicate an under-determined and open-ended body of features. Empirical research supports the observation that similes are more likely to be used with explicit explanations of their intended meaning ; this offers some support to the claim that similes are preferred if a user wants to associate an unusual or out-of-the-ordinary property with a target.

Stereotypes

The most commonplace similes offer a window into the stereotypes that pervade a given language and culture. For example, the following similes convey a stereotypical view of people, animals and things:

as precise as a surgeon
as regular as a clock
as cunning as a fox
as ugly as a toad
as strong as an ox
as sour as vinegar
as lithe as a panther
as quiet as a mouse

These similes have the status of a cliché or platitude in English, and their use is typically taken to signify a lack of creative imagination.

Some stereotypical similes express viewpoints that are technically incorrect but which are widespread in a culture, such as:

as hairy as a four footed platypus
as cruel as a wolf
as stubborn as a goat
as drunk as a skunk
as violent as a gorilla
as proud as a peacock

Animal stereotypes provide a rich vein of similes in English, as does a persistent body of ethnic stereotypes.

Similes do not have to be accurate to be meaningful or useful. To be "as proud as a peacock" is "to be very proud" whether peacocks actually do exhibit pride or not. What matters is that peacocks are commonly believed to be exemplary examples of proud behaviour.

Irony

Some similes play against expectations to convey an ironic viewpoint, as in the following examples:

as hairy as a bowling ball
as subtle as a sledgehammer
as porous as steel
as bulletproof as a spongecake
as cuddly as a cactus
as charming as an eel
as silent as an abandoned meadow

The intended audience for such similes must sufficiently understand the concepts involved so as to appreciate that the opposite of the intended meaning is being conveyed.

Ironic similes create a humorous effect by setting up an expectation that is then incongruously dashed. Incongruity is a core concept in the understanding of humor as a cognitive mechanism.

Irony is a relatively common feature of similes that are used in web-based texts. Indeed, researchers have estimated that between 10% to 15% of explicit web-based similes (by unique type rather than by frequency) are ironic similes of the above kind

Subversive use of irony

Bona-fide similes that express a widely-held stereotypical belief can also be subverted for ironic purposes. The following explicit similes each subvert another non-ironic simile to achieve a more obvious semantic incongruity and thus a greater humorous effect.