Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Trashy language …

… Joseph Epstein: Cliché-Jumping Off the Fiscal Cliff - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Fiscal cliff has by now achieved the status of a dying though not yet quite dead metaphor. The function of a metaphor is, by the power of comparison, to make one see the original object more clearly. Rosy-fingered dawn, wine-dark sea—Homer is the man for metaphor. The notion of a cliff, of course, suggests the suicidal. Gadarene swine, lemmings, and all that.

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