Metaphor is defined as the substitution of one idea or object with another,
used to assist expression or understanding. The definition of metaphor is
generally divided into "living"
and "dead" metaphors, which refer to metaphors which are still
considered "novel" versus those which have been incorporated into
normal usage. The dividing line between these two is very hazy, and may depend
on the culture, language, region, dialect or jargon it is found in.
Metaphor is often used as a teaching tool, or to convey difficult concepts.
It is found throughout languages and is considered by many to be essential to
language. Since metaphor allows for the substitution of ideas across differing areas of
study, it is considered by some to be an interdisciplinary
Rosetta Stone.
Common examples
of metaphor include "the Internet is an information superhighway"
as a living metaphor and "I am open to suggestions" as a dead
metaphor.
Metaphor is often confused with simile, the difference
being that the metaphor draws a parallel between concepts, while the simile
points to poetic similarities.
This website
is dedicated to the proposal that the metaphorical relationships drawn
between any two disciplines are, in fact, universal, being
isomorphic mathematical derivations of the Unified Field Theory. Further, that this symmetric
aspect of
metaphor is extrapolatable both linearly and laterally, thus may be harnessed to mathematically
predict missing knowledge
and invention in all
other disciplines: an interdisciplinary Rosetta stone of
universal scope.
"The
metaphor reminds us that the universe is full of cousins." -
J.D. Casnig
Copyright John D. Casnig. Permitted
use only. Work should be cited as:
Casnig, John D. 1997-2008. A
Language of Metaphors. Kingston, Ontario, Canada: Knowgramming.com
