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Related Experiment Videos

Similes on the Internet have explanations.

Carlos Roncero1, John M Kennedy, Ron Smyth

  • 1University of Toronto at Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|May 27, 2006
PubMed
Summary

Researchers found that similes, like "crime is like a disease," are more often explained than metaphors, such as "crime is a disease." This suggests similes may be preferred for highlighting unusual connections between concepts.

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Area of Science:

  • Linguistics
  • Cognitive Science
  • Sociology

Background:

  • Figurative language, including metaphors and similes, is commonly used to explain complex or abstract concepts.
  • Understanding how different types of figurative language are employed and explained can offer insights into communication and conceptualization.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the frequency of explanations accompanying similes and metaphors in online text.
  • To determine if there is a difference in explanation rates between similes and metaphors when linking topics and vehicles.

Main Methods:

  • A systematic search of internet text was conducted for expressions linking topics (e.g., crime) with vehicles (e.g., disease) using simile and metaphor constructions.
  • The presence or absence of accompanying explanations for these figurative expressions was quantified.

Main Results:

  • Expressions formulated as similes (e.g., "crime is like a disease") were more frequently accompanied by explanatory text than those formulated as metaphors (e.g., "crime is a disease").
  • This indicates a tendency to provide justification when drawing explicit comparisons.

Conclusions:

  • Similes may be preferentially used when a writer aims to emphasize a novel or unexpected relationship between a topic and a vehicle.
  • The findings suggest that the choice between simile and metaphor can influence the explicitness of the conceptual link being communicated.

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