SIMILE

When you say "the rugby ball was like a giant egg, which he held carefully while he ran" or
"the cat leapt onto my shoulder and her claws, like thistle spines, pricked my skin painfully",
you are using simile. 'Simile' literally means 'like' or 'the same as'.

Simile
Definition: Simile is when you compare two nouns (persons, places or things) that
are unlike, with "like" or "as."
Example
"The water is like the sun."
"The water is like the sun" is an example of simile because water and the sun have
little in common, and yet they're being compared to one another. The "is" is also
part of what makes this stanza an example of simile.
"The rain falls like the sun,
rising upon the mountains."
Here is another example, comparing falling rain to the rising of the sun. Good
similes compare two very different nouns.

SENSES
Sadness is as happy as laughter.
You might cry because it hurts.
You might laugh because it hurts.
But I know one thing,
laughter is laughter and sadness
is sadness.
They can show the
same things like
hurting and gladness.

By Rachel
Hockey
Hockey is like reading
Y ou get into it and then you never
want to stop
Y ou feel like you're in a different world.
 Hockey is like school
You have to do your work and
you have to practice or you will get an "F"
Hockey is like math
You get stronger and before you know it
You're getting an
"A"
Your scoring goals
Now that's
Hockey!
 

Piano
Playing the piano is like
A bird soaring in the
Sky.
When you play the keys it is like
Flying your fingers across the
Piano.
The notes are like
Clouds drifting through the sky.
By Autumn

VELVET
My mind is as brave
as a warrior
of the night.

It's ready to
take on anything
that comes to
it.
 It can take
on any dream,
and always follows
Life.

Difference Between a Metaphor and a Simile:

Metaphor and simile are quite different, but are commonly confused simply because they are so
very similar in nature. This chapter is aimed at clearing up at least some of the confusion, if not
the entire sum of the confusion! As you read on, you'll learn why these two are so similar, and
how to clearly separate the two. First, have a look at the following two examples.

A
A good book is like a good meal. A simile
suggesting that a book may be as
( mentally) nourishing and satisfying as a
meal.

A wire is a road for electrons.     A

metaphor suggesting that electrons actually
do use a wire as a road to travel on.

If I had said above that  "a book is food for

thought" rather than "a good book is like a
good meal", I would not simply be
comparing food and literature, but actually
stating that from some perspective they are
identical. If I am an avid reader, who
hungers for information to digest, gleaning
every detail to feed my insatiable appetite
for brain candy, literature is not only
similar  to food for me - it is food. 

simile - or to be like something - is to retain some irresolvable difference which means one can
never fully substitute for the other. On the other hand, a metaphor actually is a substitution - it is
an equation in principle. 

It could be said, then, that:

A metaphor is an equation where a simile is an approximation.

In math, I could say that 99 is approximately equal to (or "like") 100 - that would be a simile - a
comparable but different value ("about 100"); but an equation, such as A=B,  means that if
A+3=10 then B+3=10. A simile may be difficult to extend further in this way, but the nature of
a good metaphor is that it may always be extended, reversed, re-substituted with other elements
and so on (just as an algebraic expression* can). In fact, using the above equation, I may also
find that another metaphor "C" is also equal to A and B, such that A=B=C. For example:

o A road is a road for cars.

o A wire is a road for electrons. 
o A vein is a road for blood cells.
o The sea is a road for ships.
o The railway is a road for trains.

To show how interchangeable these are, let's look at a few common phrases (metaphors in
bold):

 shipping lane/ highway lane (and bowling alley & lane!)

 electric line/ railway line/ shipping line/ gas line
 major artery for traffic
 electric conductor/ train conductor/ bus conductor
 rail road/ iron road
 path of electrons
 traffic flow/ electron flow/ blood flow

(One may even convey a point in their line of conversation by steering the conversation to flow
in the direction of a specific avenue)

Sometimes, we will build both a metaphor and a simile from the same parts, showing how
incredibly close these two literary devices are. Perhaps this is due to the fact that  the word
"like" means both "similar" and "the same". Compare "a car is like a cell: it travels along a
vessel of asphalt" with "a car is a cell...". When building a simile, it helps to keep it clearly
removed from a metaphor: "clouds like cotton candy" is clearly a simile.

Typically, if it needs further explanation, it's probably a simile; if it makes instant sense, it's
most likely a metaphor. The simile is always poetic, while the metaphor always has the ring of
truth (perhaps this is why metaphors readily become accepted into language as "dead
metaphors", while there is no such thing as a "dead simile").

Basic Rule: If it uses the words "is like" or "is as", it is usually a simile; if it uses the word "is",
without "as" or "like", it is usually a metaphor. Caveat: Because there is so much confusion
surrounding the difference between metaphor and simile, the two are often misstated. If the
word "like" is used to imply similarity, then it is a simile; however, if the word "like" is being
used to imply it is "the same", then this is a false simile and is, in fact a metaphor.
Simile:     ABC is approximately equal to DEF;  

Example: "clouds like cotton candy"

"Cloud" = ABC...= WhiteLightGaseous;  

"CottonCandy" = DEF...=WhiteLightSoft

Gaseous is not equal to soft. However, they are similar in their accommodating nature. Though
clouds may look like cotton candy, their functions within their respective domains are entirely
different. Truthfully, the clouds are not like cotton candy, but they leave a passing impression
that they are. A simile is almost always based on our first impressions, which is why the
comparison drawn in a simile is always limited.

Metaphor:   ABC equals DEF; A=D, B=E, C=F ; 

Example: "a car is a cell"

"Car" = ABC...= ShellDoorsWheels; 

"Cell" = WallPoresCilia***
 
A car is equal to a cell. Both protect and transport their passengers, and allow material and
passengers in and out. Both breathe, pollute and need energy to function. Their functions within
their respective domains are identical. This means that many of the relationships found in one
domain will be found in the other, which  is why an equation formed in a metaphor is always
expandable.
 
Eg: "Sugar is the fuel of the cell"; "Traffic flows quickly on major arteries". The evolution of
the car has led from a metal shell to a tough flexible polymer shell, which closely resembles the
material used in cell walls. Car alarms and keys have evolved to separate intruders from guests,
matching systems used by cells to prevent unwanted foreign bodies from entering and taking
over the cell. Fuel cell technology is closing in on the same proton exchange techniques used in
all cells, and terms such as  "motor" are used in  biochemistry**** . The car is evolving to
become even more cell-like, and new metaphors within this system will arise with each new
cellular discovery or automotive invention. (It could be said that nanotechnology will be the
meeting place of many, many metaphors).
 
[This website is dedicated to the proposal that the metaphorical relationships drawn between
any  two disciplines are, in fact, universal, and therefore may be applied to extrapolate missing
knowledge in all other disciplines.]

A short list of distinguishing characteristics:

"A metaphor is an equation where a simile is an approximation."

"A metaphor can always be greatly extended, while a simile quickly reaches its limits."
"The words like or as are widely known hallmarks of the simile - but there are so many faux
similes bearing these hallmarks that further appraisal is always needed." 

"A metaphor dies of exhaustion; a simile just gets more and more tired."

J.D. Casnig

Take the "Difference Between Metaphor and Simile" Test!

 
Note: Both a metaphor and simile have a "tertium comparationis" or a third part that is being
compared to. In the first example, the clouds and cotton candy are both soft and pleasurable;
while in the second example the cars and cells are both independent means of transport. 
 
Both metaphor and simile rely on one's individual experiences. While the tertium
comparationis for a simile appears to rely on the similarities between the author's and reader's
individual valuations of these experiences (and is therefore vulnerable to differences in such
things as culture or sentiment), the metaphor appears to rely on the similarities  between the
author's and reader's individual understanding of these experiences (and is equally vulnerable to
such things as differences in perspective or perception). Similes work most reliably where
valuations are shared (where people feel the same), and metaphors work best where
understandings are shared (where people think the same).
 
For example, the simile "Clouds like cotton candy" may stand to evoke an unintended sense of
alarm in the mind of the diabetic, thereby destroying the intended "happy" message; while the
metaphor "a car is a cell" may simply incite debate as to what a car or cell is, forcing an
element-by-element comparison against accepted fact. In this way, the simile may be viewed as
a somewhat intimate poetic device, and the metaphor viewed as a universal  poetic device.
 
Though some have argued that a simile is simply a weak metaphor, it is difficult prove with
certainty in world of ambivalent usage. In the end, it may one day be determined that the
difference between true metaphor and true simile may well be regional within the brain, with
metaphor rooted in logic and the simile rooted in emotion.
____________________________________
 
Notes
 
***Note: the cell in this case is a Paramecium, which powers its movement with hair-like
whips, called cilia. If you feel you have paramecium in your bloodstream, please consult a
physician.
 
****Note: This excerpt from the Biophysical Journal, shows the use of mechanical terms for
energy transfer in a biochemical environment. Long before the auto was invented, its parts were
being used naturally in all forms of life. Are these terms metaphors or simply statements of
fact?
"They are mechanically coupled by a central rotary shaft and held together by a peripheral
stator... By its rotary mechanism F0  is distinguished from most other proton or cation
transporters with the exception of the structurally unrelated ionic drive of the bacterial flagellar
motor."
 
From the paper "The Proton-Driven Rotor of ATP Synthase: Ohmic Conductance (10 fS), and
Absence of Voltage Gating", Biophysical Journal, Volume 86, June 2004, 4094-4109, by Boris
A. Feniouk, Maria A. Kozlova, Dmitry A. Knorre, Dmitry A. Cherepanov, Armen Y.
Mulkidjanian and Wolfgang Junge.