Examples
There are many examples of dead metaphors in the English language. A brief list of examples is given below.
- flowerbed
- head teacher
- forerunner
- to run for office
- to lose face
- to lend a hand
- to broadcast
- pilot -- originally meant the rudder of a boat.
- flair -- originally meant a sweet smell.
- a computer mouse
- (tele)phone is ringing (original telephones had bells)
- fishing for compliments
- seeds of doubt
- catch her name
- world wide web
- tulip -- originally meant the eastern headdress, the turban.
- turn-on
- flared jeans
- he ploughed through the traffic lights
- foothills or the foot of a mountain
- brow of the hill
- branches of government
- windfall gain
- fly
- kidney beans
- "nightfall" - originally from the growing shade under an object which occurs when the object is dropped or falling
- The Body of an essay- originally connected to human anatomy
- infinitesimal calculus
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Famous quotes containing the word examples:
“It is hardly to be believed how spiritual reflections when mixed with a little physics can hold people’s attention and give them a livelier idea of God than do the often ill-applied examples of his wrath.”
—G.C. (Georg Christoph)
“No rules exist, and examples are simply life-savers answering the appeals of rules making vain attempts to exist.”
—André Breton (1896–1966)
“Histories are more full of examples of the fidelity of dogs than of friends.”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)