Simile or Not?

A simile is when you say that something is like something else (for example, You are like an olympic champion!). So what do you call it when someone leaves off the “something else” part?

Using “like” as a substitute for “said” doesn’t count (for example, So I’m like, wow!)

I suppose “simile poisoning” is as good a term as any…

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Yes, the comic is political, (but ignore that) but the word is new to me, so it qualifies to get posted—and the heading has a grammar mistake, too! Do you see the mistake?

Yup, singular subject with a plural verb (called s/v disagreement). Should be “a person who … represents…”

He’s correct. Not much else to say. Don’t say “all of the sudden”! Why? That’s just how the idiom goes.

Last panel. “Prove” in this old usage means to test, not to show that something is true. The kid got it right!

“The exception proves the rule” does not mean that you demonstrate the truth of something by making an exception to it. That’s nonsense. “The exception proves the rule” means that when you break the rule you test whether it’s actually a rule by whether you get into trouble or not. If you get into trouble, yup, it’s a rule. If you get away with it, then it’s not really a rule.

The web writer is whoever wrote this copy of Ancient Origins. Read the caption below the picture:

The writer said “comprising,” which is correct. The whole (the collection) comprises the parts!

Ahem—To justify the title of this post:

I recently took a test at the federal agency where I worked, and the test’s text said that the following section of the test “is comprised of” a set of questions. Wrong! The section comprises a set of questions (or is composed of a set of questions).

“Comprise” goes from the whole to the parts; “compose” goes from the parts to the whole.

Harrumpf.