Tag Archives: comparatio

Comparatio

Comparatio (com-pa-ra’-ti-o): A general term for a comparison, either as a figure of speech or as an argument. More specific terms are generally employed, such as metaphorsimileallegory, etc.


He was like a bumble bee who’d lost his bumble. He was like a car with four flat tires. He was like Jack without his beanstalk, Mack without his knife, or Old MacDonald without his farm.

Just imagine! Bobby’s wife, who he loved with all his heart and soul, who he had been married to for half his life, who had a lot of money, and who had shot him in the arm and run off with his best friend Eddy, was sending him video clips and selfies of the two of them eating in expensive restaurants and paying in cash—what was rightfully his cash., at least, as he understood it.

But, he didn’t understand it very well. Bobby wasn’t very bright. Being dull-witted was what initially attracted his wife, and it was a good ride for 30 or so years. She took great pleasure in deceiving him financially and relationship-wise. She had had affairs with Bobby’s father, brother, cousin, 2 uncles and grandfather. The affair with Bobby’s grandfather took place in a nursing home until he died from gigantic kidney stones. She thought he was moaning with pleasure when he expired in the woods by the nursing home. It was embarrassing.

When Grandpa died, and after all those years of “affairing” with Bobby’s relatives, she decided to go outside the family and normalize her affairs by having them with Bobby’s friends. She chose Bobby’s best friend Eddy because he always talked about “how much” he was getting. She figured he would keep her coochie busy. And he did—Eddy had contracted Viagrania when he was around 50. He had overdosed on Viagra and “suffered” from a permanently stiff tool.

Everything would’ve worked out ok if she hadn’t shot Bobby in the arm. She was a wanted woman now. The police were hot on her trail. She had been captured on CVS’s security cameras buying a half-dozen boxes of lube. She was disguised as Mary Poppins, She was immediately identified as Bobby’s wife by the Manager. It was the fact that she wasn’t carrying an umbrella that initially alerted the Manager, and it was her South Jersey accent that did her in. The police were called.

The police arrived and started to handcuff her. Staying in character, she said “Those cuffs aren’t exactly a spoonful of sugar.” The police started laughing uncontrollably. She pulled away and ran out of CVS. Eddie was waiting. Eddie’s pickup truck burned oil, so they drove away in a cloud of smoke obscuring Eddie’s license plate. So, the two of them escaped. Somehow, they managed to get to Costa Rica, which has no extradition treaty with the United States.

Bobby is sad angry—he calls himself “sangry.” He keeps talking about hiring mercenaries to “go down there” and extract her and bring her home. In his love-induced blindness he believes she was kidnapped by Eddy.

All he has is a hole in his arm from a 9 mm. Slug to remember her by.

This is truly a case where “love stinks.” Bobby would say, along with the J. Geils Band:

I’ve had the blues
The reds and the pinks
One thing for sure

Love stinks, yeah, yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks, yeah, yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks, yeah, yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks, yeah, yeah


Definitions courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu.

Daily Trope is available in an early edition on Amazon in paperback under the title of The Book of Tropes for $9.95. It is also available in Kindle format for $5.99.

Comparatio

Comparatio (com-pa-ra’-ti-o): A general term for a comparison, either as a figure of speech or as an argument. More specific terms are generally employed, such as metaphor, simile, allegory, etc.


The bottom is like the top—a terminal point in the world of up and down. Up and down are value-laden words—as George Lakoff tells us, “up is good, down is bad.” Throwing up. Growing up. Showing up. Blowing up. Screwing up. Turning up. All these “up words” can represent a range of values on the good-bad continuum. I don’t see how screwing up can be a good thing. I guess blowing up can go either way, depending on the context. For example, blowing up an inflatable adult doll can be a good thing for those who find them attractive. But blowing up your home might be a bad thing, unless it is a planned demolition. Also, the same goes for the doll: if it’s being blown up as evidence in divorce court, then, it can be seen as a bad thing for its owner. Context matters more than the words in determining their good-bad valence. But of course, you need the words to make meanings.

What about down? Down the hatch. Down the road. Down to the beach. Downtown. Down and dirty. Down and out. Down my spine. So, down is less nuanced than up. I don’t know what that means beyond an abundance of the negative attaching to “down.” I like “get down” quite a bit. It reminds me of the 70s when it was a key catch phrase among cool people. It was usually yelled at disco dancers wearing white disco suits, male or female high-heeled shoes, and males, with unbuttoned shirts showing off five-feet of gold chain coiled around their necks. There was cocaine snorted and pot smoked by everybody in the disco joints. Everybody got down! Sometimes that did include falling down and passing out on he floor, but the “faller downers” were quickly dragged out the back door where they would usually be robbed of their wallets and high-heeled shoes, and sent home in cabs.

Anyway, I’m pretty sure I’ve misrepresented Lakoff here. Basically, he says that metaphors (which are comparisons) provide us with our orientation toward life. So when you’re “fit as a fiddle” you should be “happy as a clam.” As a violin with mollusk-like sentiments, get down! You’re di-nohmite!


Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).

The Daily Trope is available on Amazon in paperback under the title of The Book of Tropes for $9.95. It is also available in Kindle format for $5.99.

Comparatio

Comparatio (com-pa-ra’-ti-o): A general term for a comparison, either as a figure of speech or as an argument. More specific terms are generally employed, such as metaphorsimileallegory, etc.

So far, this US Presidency has been like an aneurysm waiting to happen.

Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).

The Daily Trope is available on Amazon in paperback under the title of The Book of Tropes for $9.95. It is also available in Kindle format for $5.99.

Comparatio

Comparatio (com-pa-ra’-ti-o): A general term for a comparison, either as a figure of speech or as an argument. More specific terms are generally employed, such as metaphorsimileallegory, etc.

Your leadership style is like a tornado on ice.

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Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).

 

 

Comparatio

Comparatio (com-pa-ra’-ti-o): A general term for a comparison, either as a figure of speech or as an argument. More specific terms are generally employed, such as metaphorsimileallegory, etc.

Your argument is like an I3-graded diamond: We give it a 10 (1 being the highest). Its flaws are so numerous and obvious that it is absolutely worthless. A piece of junk. Off to the bin with it!

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Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).

 

Comparatio

Comparatio (com-pa-ra’-ti-o): A general term for a comparison, either as a figure of speech or as an argument. More specific terms are generally employed, such as metaphorsimileallegory, etc.

That painting looks like a baloney sandwich that was run over by a truck.

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Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).

Simile

Simile (si’-mi-lee): An explicit comparison, often (but not necessarily) employing “like” or “as.”

Truth is like an endless tube of toothpaste–the more you squeeze it, the more you get out of it.

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Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).

Comparatio

Comparatio (com-pa-ra’-ti-o): A general term for a comparison, either as a figure of speech or as an argument. More specific terms are generally employed, such as metaphorsimileallegory, etc.

Your bedroom looks like a cross between a Salvation Army collection bin and a Dunkin’ Donuts dumpster. Please clean it up before you go to the movies tonight.

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Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).

Diasyrmus

Diasyrmus (di’-a-syrm-os): Rejecting an argument through ridiculous comparison.

Letting your kids roam the streets at night so they can “learn about life” is like putting herbicides on your garden to make it grow!

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Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).

Comparatio

Comparatio (com-pa-ra’-ti-o): A general term for a comparison, either as a figure of speech or as an argument. More specific terms are generally employed, such as metaphor, simile, allegory, etc.

Every time I see you I feel like we’re in some kind of video game that we don’t know how to play.

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Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).