Re:Metaphors in Man Pages
by gen220 on Friday May 08, 2020 @06:42PM
(#23120341)
It is a metaphor in the literal meaning of the word metaphor (i.e. it's a word that "carries many" meanings).
To me, prose is a metaphor if it deliberately plays with the double-meaning, or uses it as an analogy to explain an example.
"I killed the process" isn't a metaphor to me.
"I killed the process, but its life wasn't too exciting anyway, it was just a spin-lock" would be a metaphor.
"The server's dropping packets": no metaphor.
"The server's dropping packets, and it's made a mess all over the client's carpeting.": metaphor, kinda pushing the utility, though.
If you go with the single-word definition, and care at all for etymology, almost everything is a metaphor. It's kind of fun to go on those adventures. Most of the words we use to describe cognition are metaphors for physical activities. "Understand", "Comprehend", "Grasp".
To me, prose is a metaphor if it deliberately plays with the double-meaning, or uses it as an analogy to explain an example.
"I killed the process" isn't a metaphor to me.
"I killed the process, but its life wasn't too exciting anyway, it was just a spin-lock" would be a metaphor.
"The server's dropping packets": no metaphor.
"The server's dropping packets, and it's made a mess all over the client's carpeting.": metaphor, kinda pushing the utility, though.
If you go with the single-word definition, and care at all for etymology, almost everything is a metaphor. It's kind of fun to go on those adventures. Most of the words we use to describe cognition are metaphors for physical activities. "Understand", "Comprehend", "Grasp".