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I don't think OP argued that this was a bad thing. It's just a quick exploration of the use of metaphors, if anything showing just how prevalent and effective t

by l0b0 6y ago

I don't think OP argued that this was a bad thing. It's just a quick exploration of the use of metaphors, if anything showing just how prevalent and effective they are. I've barely started reading Douglas Hofstadter, but isn't all language a heap of metaphors? I mean, in a man page, how could you talk about a program without using metaphors? The closest thing you could get is probably code or pseudo-code, and even that is just the top of a massive pile of metaphors all the way down to moving electrons around.

the_af 6y ago
> I don't think OP argued that this was a bad thing Maybe, thought it wasn't clear from her initial article. I see she's now re-worded it (she removed Maggie's quote about frivolity), which indeed makes it clearer it's not a criticism, just an exploration. Indeed, language is a heap of metaphors and idioms. It's interesting to consider which ones occur in different languages and which ones don't (in Spanish you are not "moved" by an emotion, for example).