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Similes


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Similes Wed Jun 11, 2008 17:16 pm  Similes
 

Similes compare things which are alike in some respect, although they may be different in their general nature. We use similes to attach a certain quality to people or situations. Grandpa is as fit as a fiddle, Joe as cool as a cucumber and my bird as light as a feather. Burnt chips are as black as soot, Bud Light beer as week as water, and a joke can be as old as the hills.

And then there are similes that are usually used to associate people's characteristics with an animal. You can be as calm as a cat, blind as a bat or pissed as a rat (very drunk). And surely M. is as mad as a March hare in a field full of carrots.

What are your favourite similes? And do make any comparisons that are only used in your 'neck of the woods'?
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Similes Wed Jun 11, 2008 18:05 pm  Similes
 

Hi Ralf

An expression I'm quite fond of is "finer than frog hair". My fiance (who hailed from Oklahoma) used to use that one all the time -- instead of just saying "wonderful" or "great".
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Similes Wed Jun 11, 2008 18:16 pm  Similes
 

Now it seems (watching TV interviews of Hollywood folks) that the new buzzword is "amazing".

"How was the sandwich at Monkey Stewart's, Angelina?"

"Oh, like, it was just really amazing!"
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Similes Wed Jun 11, 2008 20:08 pm  Similes
 

Yankee wrote:
Hi Ralf

An expression I'm quite fond of is "finer than frog hair". My fiance (who hailed from Oklahoma) used to use that one all the time -- instead of just saying "wonderful" or "great".
.

Or more rebellious than a frog's wanton curls Laughing

So far I've only been familiar with 'it's just a gnats hair from it!'
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Similes Wed Jun 11, 2008 20:11 pm  Similes
 

prezbucky wrote:
Now it seems (watching TV interviews of Hollywood folks) that the new buzzword is "amazing".

"How was the sandwich at Monkey Stewart's, Angelina?"

"Oh, like, it was just really amazing!"

But where's the simile? Was it as amazing as angel's beads of perspiration? Idea
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Similes Wed Jun 11, 2008 20:18 pm  Similes
 

no, probably more like:

"That sandwich was as amazing as a nuclear detonation as seen from the moon."

hehe
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Similes Wed Jun 11, 2008 21:00 pm  Similes
 

It's as easy as falling off a log Wink
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Similes Wed Jun 11, 2008 21:11 pm  Similes
 

.
I'm familiar with most of the similes on this list:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/36400.html
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Similes Wed Jun 11, 2008 22:24 pm  Similes
 

.
I've also heard "as phony as a three-dollar bill" -- and I guess that simile is in use pretty much everywhere in the US.

And there are a variety of ways that people finish this sentence:
"That's about as subtle as (a) ___________ ."
(Of course, the usual ending of that sentence is something that is anything but subtle.)
Maybe we could have some fun thinking up endings for that one. Laughing
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Similes Wed Jun 11, 2008 22:53 pm  Similes
 

Down here it's "as queer as a three-dollar bill"

no offense intended -- that's just how folks say it here... though I think here they're using "queer" to mean "phony", more or less.
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Similes Wed Jun 11, 2008 22:53 pm  Similes
 

Amy wrote:
Maybe we could have some fun thinking up endings for that one.

Here's my go at it:

That's about as subtle as an elephant. Smile

What would be yours?
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Similes Wed Jun 11, 2008 22:56 pm  Similes
 

prezbucky wrote:
though I think here they're using "queer" to mean "phony", more or less.

Wow, though when I hear "queer", I start thinking about something else. Hehe Smile
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Similes Wed Jun 11, 2008 22:58 pm  Similes
 

yah, that's why I added the disclaimer
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Similes Wed Jun 11, 2008 23:21 pm  Similes
 

Hi Alex

You could make that even less subtle if it involved a whole herd of elephants. Laughing

This is one of the more "interesting" variations I've heard:
"That's about as subtle as a fart in a flower shop."
Laughing
.
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Similes Thu Jun 12, 2008 12:46 pm  Similes
 

Yankee wrote:
This is one of the more "interesting" variations I've heard:
"That's about as subtle as a fart in a flower shop."

lol, that's a good one!

I googled as subtle as and found a few interesting ones.

As he tried to make a move on her, he was as subtle as Punch giving the funeral oration for Ghandi.

Laughing
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