Notice how the two groups of words compare intelligence with light and the edge of a knife (including clever, which comes from the Old English cleave and cleaver). As a way of explaining the abstract in concrete terms, metaphors have grown worn and dull with use, entering everyday conversation and becoming independent descriptors of the very concepts they attempt to convey, each shedding its skin as it becomes larger and more prolific. It is little surprise then that our present-day warehouse of metaphoric adjectives stores familiar things that surround us in our daily lives, such as light and knives and body parts and food. Echoing Hulme:

Language is fossil poetry which is constantly being worked over for uses of speech. Our commonest words are worn-out metaphors.

--James Bradstreet Grenough

Older Entries