Dig-Deeper

What is a dead metaphor? A dead metaphor is a metaphor which has lost its original intended imagery, that is why it is called a 'dead' metaphor.It lost its original imagery because of excessive repetition of the metaphor. Examples: "body of an essay"('body' originally meant to describe the human body, the metaphorical image of human anatomy) "It's like swimming. Once you learn, you'll never forget." (now known as "riding a bicycle") Fact: 'Don Quixote' helped the use of dead metaphors to be understood