English Similes

“It’s been a hard day’s night and I’ve been working like a dog”

In English, whenever we want to compare two things to each other we can use a simile. The main difference between a simile and a metaphor is that the comparison in similes is always indirect. In fact we need to employ words like ‘as’, ‘like’ or ‘than’. On the other hand, the writer or speaker using a metaphor would be implying that something IS something else.

Let us look at some examples to illustrate the difference….

1. Life is a journey.

2. Life is like a journey.

3. Life is as eventful as a journey.

In the first example we have a metaphor (because life is being directly compared to a journey. The second and third examples are similes and this is illustrated by the fact that both examples include ‘like’ or ‘as’.

Why are similes necessary?

“One of the new things people began to find out in the last century was that thoughts -just mere thoughts – are as powerful as electric batteries – as good for one as sunlight is, or as bad for one as poison.” from The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Apart from the fact that this quotation itself contains a number of similes, the importance lies in the feeling that is conveyed. Think of the difference between these two sentences:

1. Thoughts are very important.

2. “Thoughts, just mere thoughts, are as powerful as electric batteries, as good for one as sunlight is, or as bad for one as poison.” I’m pretty sure you would agree with me in saying that the second sentence is much more powerful and it explains the idea of how important thoughts are much more clearly and vividly.

So, to sum up, this is the main reason for the use of similes, and this is also why similes are very commonly found in the works of literature’s most important contributors – they make their readers FEEL the message that they want to convey….and this is by far more effective that phrases which are straight and to the point.

Some everyday similes that you can use…

Try and think of what the meaning of these similes could be. If you have any difficulty, post a comment or leave a message to find out your answer.

1. They are as alike as two peas in a pod.

2. It is bitter like gall.

3. She is busier than a bee.

4. He is as deaf as a doorpost.

5. Joe is as mad as a hatter.

Other similes which are commonly used in English:

6. As happy as Larry.

7. As poor as a church mouse.

8. As wise as Solomon.

9. As keen as mustard.

10. As stiff as poker.

An Owl With a Feather

Winter Wonders

What a fantastic photo, not taken by me, I must add. I love the way only a few colours are evident, which has the effect of making the stark yellow eyes stand out all the more.

With the Swans at Osterley Park

A lovely quiet spot in Osterley Park a few days ago.

English Grammar The Semicolon

THE SEMICOLON

The semicolon is somewhere between a full stop and a comma. Semicolons can be used in English to join phrases and sentences that are thematically linked without having to use a conjunction (example 1 below). Semicolons can also be used instead of commas to separate the items in a list when the items themselves already contain commas (example 2 below).

EXAMPLES

• 
  I like your brother; he's a good friend.
• Many great leaders, Churchill, leader of Britain during the Second World War; Alexander, the great Emperor and general; and Napolean, the brilliant French general, had strong characters, which were useful when their countries were at war but which did not serve them well in times of peace.

Hurry Up Harry

Week 1 Walking Back to Health

We completed a brisk 4 mile walk today around Gunnersbury Park. This is a park in Brentford, West London, England. Purchased for the nation from the Rothschild family, it was opened to the public by Neville Chamberlain, then Minister of Health, on 21 May 1926.

Walking up a hill back in September 2014. Sometimes we all need a bit of support along the way.

Cats are boring don`t you think?

Top 10 Photos

This is one of my favourite photos. It was taken a few years ago in Lanzarote. I was sitting having a coffee looking across the harbour with the mountains in the backround.

Sean`s Old Austin Car

This car used to live in West London. I can remember sitting in it several times waiting in the cold for it to finally start so we can get moving.

I wonder where it is now, is this car even still on the road somewhere? 

This England

A view of the English coast near Eastbourne September 2014

Fireflight by Sean Gunning

Fireflight

A jagged-edged charcoal line in the sky -
three, maybe four dozen birds flying north,
a mile above the 22 freeway,
five, maybe six miles south of Garden Grove.

Ahead, just hours into its rise, the sun:
a goddess, naked and burning with life
behind a thin swath of white chiffon cloth;
blinding; illuminating creation.

Almost invisible, like kite strings caught
in some holy pull, side-by-side for miles,
thousands of migrating gulls; each beating
heart a part of a family heading home.

To the north, mountains. To the east, mountains.
To the southwest, the weight of an ocean.
An avian etch-a-sketch in the sky.
God shaking out his electric razor.

How do they know when everyone's leaving?
How do they know about wingtip vortex
and drag? Do they really communicate
on such an advanced, organized level?

Did they know to wait for yesterday's rain
to wash the dark choking smog from the air,
so they could breathe in the full majesty
of late-fall, snow-tipped mountains as they fly?

How many here could take it on the chin
and lead from the front for hour after hour
then rotate back to help the weakest wings
and not veer from the plan to act as one?

Cars and trucks are passing me on both sides.
Spirit voices urging - This is neither
the time nor the place to daydream and dwell
in cool metaphors and cold memories.

Do you know this feeling? To want to slow
when all around you is a blur of speed?
When the firemen climbed the Towers that day
did they feel that sense of another's hand?

And amidst waves of terror rushing down,Fireflight

A jagged-edged charcoal line in the sky -
three, maybe four dozen birds flying north,
a mile above the 22 freeway,
five, maybe six miles south of Garden Grove.

Ahead, just hours into its rise, the sun:
a goddess, naked and burning with life
behind a thin swath of white chiffon cloth;
blinding; illuminating creation.

Almost invisible, like kite strings caught
in some holy pull, side-by-side for miles,
thousands of migrating gulls; each beating
heart a part of a family heading home.

To the north, mountains. To the east, mountains.
To the southwest, the weight of an ocean.
An avian etch-a-sketch in the sky.
God shaking out his electric razor.

How do they know when everyone's leaving?
How do they know about wingtip vortex
and drag? Do they really communicate
on such an advanced, organized level?

Did they know to wait for yesterday's rain
to wash the dark choking smog from the air,
so they could breathe in the full majesty
of late-fall, snow-tipped mountains as they fly?

How many here could take it on the chin
and lead from the front for hour after hour
then rotate back to help the weakest wings
and not veer from the plan to act as one?

Cars and trucks are passing me on both sides.
Spirit voices urging - This is neither
the time nor the place to daydream and dwell
in cool metaphors and cold memories.

Do you know this feeling? To want to slow
when all around you is a blur of speed?
When the firemen climbed the Towers that day
did they feel that sense of another's hand?

And amidst waves of terror rushing down,
when everything beneath them fell away,
did they agree, as one, on what to do?
To hold formation through the ashen cloud,
and keep on climbing.
when everything beneath them fell away,
did they agree, as one, on what to do?
To hold formation through the ashen cloud,
and keep on climbing.

DMG English Teaching Service

Footy is back