Yes there are many beautiful metaphors tucked away in other languages that 
we seldom hear about. At their best they compress experience sufficiently to 
make the complex simple.


Colin


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob Cooper" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, February 19, 2006 10:06 PM
Subject: Re: novel metaphors


Hi Colin,
I think Ian Macmillan once created a saying to preface a poem he'd written
and that got me thinking...
So, once, after suggesting a writing exercise which was creating proverbs -
I can't find the details (they're all as lost as "an atheist in a Church at
Christmas" - as they say in Kentucky) - here's some almost true sounding
sayings I remember:
there's the old Yaruba saying, Always accept gifts from a neighbour who
sings,
or the one from northern Russia: The more beautiful the princess, the
smellier the fart - or was it, The more beautiful the princess, the quieter
the fart? (I think which is said depends on the circumstances)
and, You never doubt the farmer with the longest pitchfork - as my
Grandmother used to say.
And don't forget what they say in the markets in Egypt -  Always pat the dog
with the silver collar!
But none of these are quite what you're asking for...
(and explanations of what these might mean don't matter as much as the
impact of the image they offer!).
Bob


>From: Colin Dewar <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Pennine Poetry Works <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: novel metaphors
>Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2006 12:10:59 -0000
>
>I've been stimulated by all the correspondence on modern language. Does 
>anyone have expressions they've made up that come in handy for every day 
>speech?
>
>e.g. " A drop's a lot when the pot's full". You can say this when people 
>are trying to dump more work onto you with the "only take ten minutes" 
>argument.
>
>What about situations when there's an adverse event, but because the 
>relevant circumstances were so poor for other reasons it makes no 
>additional difference - hence there's no additional concern.
>
>Or what about something for capturing the idea that people, institutions, 
>or countries can only take on lots of non-essential, impersonal , virtuous 
>activities if they have sufficient resources, energy etc
>
>Or what about a situation where a proposed change is good at the individual 
>level (cuts down risk with the benefit of hindsight) but if universally 
>implemented as a precautionary measure would slow everything down so much 
>that the net result would be bad.
>
>Ideally:
>1.Can be understood without explanation - the context makes it clear
>2.Short and snappy.
>3.General applicability
>
>or
>
>???
>
>
>Colin
>