War Metaphors

Copyright: J.D. Casnig

Here's a short list of metaphors borne from war terms. It is arranged as:

• 1) Metaphor

• 2) An example in use

• 3) An implication made by the metaphor.

We're sure to add more as we bump into them.

Launch: Condoleezza Rice launched a diplomatic effort aimed at ending the war. Diplomacy is a weapon against war itself. 

Ceasefire: The neighbors agreed to a ceasefire over their lawn ornament argument. Argument is war: words are bullets that can inflict harm; the mind is a territory that can be disputed.

Truce: The neighbors agreed to a truce over their barbeque dispute. Disagreement is war: the terms of agreement are a truce spelling out sovereign territories.

Battle: Every day is an uphill battle. Life is a battle against a higher enemy - and we are the underdogs (rebels?) seeking higher ground.

Battleground: The senate has become the battleground for stem cell lobbyists. Opposing lobbyists are civil-war warriors seeking to sieze a specific legal territory from (disputed zone) lawmakers.

Under fire: The president has been under fire for his veto of the stem cell bill. Politics is war, with word-bullets a popular means of attack 

Firestorm: Stem cell research has created a firestorm of controversy. Controversy is heat, and is self-perpetuating (also heated debate or discussion). (Note: self-perpetuating heat is also a quality of friction, another metaphor for disagreement).

Bombard: The president was bombarded with questions from the press. The press is an enemy state, whose purpose is to destroy the president.

Salvo: The opposition's speech was the opening salvo of an attack on foreign policy.  Words are artillery in the war to seize political territory.

Attack: The opposition's speech was the opening salvo of an attack on foreign policy. A speech is only part of a broader offensive along a specific political front.

Beseiged: She entered the interview and was immediately beseiged by personnel staff. An interview can be a battle, with the interviewer(s) seeking the upper hand.

Front lines: The organization works at the front lines of the war on poverty. Poverty is an enemy state, occupying the homes of the poor.

War zone: The O. J. Simpson courtroom had become a war zone, with witnesses caught in the crossfire. A courtroom is a place of open war, with facts and arguments the weapons, and witnesses in no-man's-land.

Flank: The president drew criticism from the Republican flank. Parties are armies in the war of politics.

Join the ranks: Clinton decided to join the ranks of foreign policy critics. Opposition creates armies.

Crossfire: She didn't want to get caught in the crossfire of her parent's divorce. Divorce is war, and the child is a third party. Verbal bullets in this crossfire form a net, hence "caught".

Blockade: "Still the Majority Leader held off, resisting the growing calls to implement a deliberate solution to this unprecedented, unfair, and frankly outrageous filibuster blockade." (Senator Orrin G. Hatch). A filibuster is a type of blockade used in political warfare, which limits the mobility of an enemy party. Its user sees it as a tactic, its target sees it as a war crime.

No-man's land: Party moderates found themselves in a political no-man's-land, with pro and con members battling around them. Intraparty disputes form political "civil wars", with moderates caught in a disputed zone between polarized factions. It's lonely in the middle!

War: "War on the middle class!" (Lou Dobbs). Government policy is a weapon of class wars.

Troops: Greenpeace called in the troops to protest the whale hunt. Protests are battles in a war of conscience.

Powder keg: The court's decision is sure to set off a powder keg of dissent among defense supporters. An important decision is a spark igniting sudden change [see: Roe V. Wade].

Bombshell 1: "Boy Band Bombshell!" (Daily Show). Beliefs are a landscape, disillusionment is devastating.

Bombshell 2: "Marylin Monroe: Blonde Bombshell". Another's attractiveness can devastate the even landscape of one's self control.

Dud: Her last boyfriend turned out to be a dud. Romance that does not bloom does not explode.

Time Bomb: The new policy is considered a political time bomb for the conservative government. Leaders are the future casualties of controversial policies. Issues are shrapnel that may injure a party or its members.

Foxhole: After the decision, the government headed for its foxholes, awaiting a response from the opposition. Controversial government policies are an opening salvo on the opposition.

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Footnote: In wartime news reports, war metaphors may be too easily confused with their literal equivalents. During times of war, reporters will lean towards very tactile metaphors, often involving single or repeated physical strikes on an inert material. Look for metaphors like pulverized, pounded, hammered, chipped away, struck or beat down.

Did you know...?

The word "Grenade" derives from the Middle French word for "pomegranate", while "pomegranate" comes from the Anglo-French " pome garnette" meaning, literally, "seedy fruit". A later version of the grenade was called a pineapple grenade due to its similarity in appearance. Phrases like "seeds of destruction", "fruits of war" and "bitter harvest" are other examples of metaphors that relate war to food or farming. Perhaps metaphor is the only way to make the insanity of war seem comprehensible to us.

Text Copyright J.D. Casnig, Knowgramming.com