as in dead metaphor
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Recent Examples of mixed metaphor
Cats, however, may turn out to be the canaries in the coalmines — pardon the mixed metaphor.
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Jan Ellen Spiegel, Hartford Courant, 24 Dec. 2024
Yeah, that's probably a mixed metaphor, or actually a simile.
—Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, 21 Jan. 2011
Fair warning: What follows is a mixed metaphor palooza.
—Keith Kloor, Discover Magazine, 23 Jan. 2013
The triple-mixed metaphor says it all: Licht & Co. are struggling with the intractable problem of how to square the CNN brand’s promise — straight news — with the entertainment imperatives of nighttime television.
—Erik Wemple, Washington Post, 22 Dec. 2022
Excuse the mixed metaphor, but the Viper feels like a great white shark on the road.
—WSJ, 3 Dec. 2022
Yes, a mixed metaphor, but that essentially is what has been in play to this stage.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 27 Apr. 2022
Those smoldering embers of shortcomings, now and particularly in the postseason, always hover — a mixed metaphor, admittedly — over some and consistently haunt others.
—Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 28 Jan. 2022
Eye strain, like neck, back, or wrist strain, is nothing to be sneezed at, to use a very mixed metaphor.
—Maria Shine Stewart, cleveland, 28 Sep. 2020
Jan Ellen Spiegel, Hartford Courant, 24 Dec. 2024
Yeah, that's probably a mixed metaphor, or actually a simile.
—Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, 21 Jan. 2011
Fair warning: What follows is a mixed metaphor palooza.
—Keith Kloor, Discover Magazine, 23 Jan. 2013
The triple-mixed metaphor says it all: Licht & Co. are struggling with the intractable problem of how to square the CNN brand’s promise — straight news — with the entertainment imperatives of nighttime television.
—Erik Wemple, Washington Post, 22 Dec. 2022
Excuse the mixed metaphor, but the Viper feels like a great white shark on the road.
—WSJ, 3 Dec. 2022
Yes, a mixed metaphor, but that essentially is what has been in play to this stage.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 27 Apr. 2022
Those smoldering embers of shortcomings, now and particularly in the postseason, always hover — a mixed metaphor, admittedly — over some and consistently haunt others.
—Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 28 Jan. 2022
Eye strain, like neck, back, or wrist strain, is nothing to be sneezed at, to use a very mixed metaphor.
—Maria Shine Stewart, cleveland, 28 Sep. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mixed metaphor
Noun
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Many of our emotion terms are references to states of the body—we’re downcast, bent out of shape, head over heels, shaken up, down in the mouth—which have slowly rigidified into dead metaphor.Nikhil Krishnan, The New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2022
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This shift reminds us that dead metaphors aren’t always terminally dead.Rob Nixon, Smithsonian, 23 Mar. 2018
Noun
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The 22-year-old posted a picture on social media with a meeting room white board in the background and, on the white board, code words for plays used by the Lions were included in the photo.Andy Scholes, CNN, 5 Dec. 2024
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Merchant allegedly used fabric weights as code words for different parts of the crime.Anders Hagstrom, Fox News, 11 Sep. 2024
Noun
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Tax complexity has become a euphemism for tax evasion for a price ordinary taxpayers cannot afford.Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 18 Nov. 2024
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What perfectly plausible scenario happens in this movie, and why does its title sound like a euphemism for something very dirty?Laura Bradley, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2024
Noun
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These circumstances conducive to socialization are most obviously available for young people on athletic teams, but the sports simile is easily applicable to young people in marching band, theater productions, student council, volunteer and community settings and the robotics club.Jeff Nelligan, Baltimore Sun, 4 Dec. 2024
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Later, when asked about his evolution as a coach, Harbaugh described himself as open to change and used a mall-entrance simile to make his point.Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2024
Noun
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These men are not so different, even if Shrinking has to pretzel its characters into unrecognizable versions of themselves to insist upon this analogy.Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 24 Dec. 2024
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To pick up on the aviation analogy, data centers will soon be regarded like airports—an essential service that keeps the economy moving.Andrew Schaap, Forbes, 23 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Mixed metaphor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mixed%20metaphor. Accessed 31 Dec. 2024.
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