Mixed Metaphors

This guy has three of them. Can you recite the original, unmixed metaphors? Or is it two? Okay, okay, what goes with bulb?

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Today’s post is a vocabulary lesson. Metaphor is a generic term used for about any figure of speech (technically, a metaphor is when you say that something is something else). A mixed metaphor is when you combine two figures of speech, often with humorous results. The last two panels have two mixed metaphors:

Don’t do this in real life if you can help it.

I don’t often run into comics that are actual deliberate grammar lessons, so I like to post them whenever I see one:

I’ve posted a lesson on this topic in the past, but it’s worth repeating.

I never had the problem described in the first panel, but the definitions in the remaining panels are pretty good.

‘nuf said.

Actually, I usually see only one comparison in analogies and similes.

I made this point back before the internet, when I first started writing. I don’t think I’ve run into this point since! Be careful with pointless metaphors:

…except I said not to do this. Say the note (or email now, I guess) is from you, not your desk!