Title: The Language of Metaphors

[GHA]

Some minds don’t speak in direct lines. They speak in symbols, images, and fragments that at first glance may look abstract. But if you stay with them, you realize these metaphors carry more weight than literal words ever could.

A metaphor is not just decoration — it is translation. When feelings are too strong or too complex to name outright, they find their way into sketches, stories, comparisons. A storm may stand in for anger, a crumbling wall for fatigue, a rising bird for hope. What is unspoken becomes encoded, preserved, and offered in a form that asks for interpretation rather than immediate recognition.

For neurodivergent minds especially, this language can be a lifeline. Direct expression may feel blunt or inadequate, but metaphor allows feeling to breathe sideways. It softens exposure while still revealing depth. It protects the self, while also reaching out.

I have come to see metaphors as more than literary devices. They are a living bridge between inner states and outer understanding. Where plain speech may falter, metaphor sustains connection.

And perhaps that is the paradox: the indirect often carries the most direct truth.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

I use metaphors and analogies every day.

 

[Outdated]

I'm an Aussie. More than half of our every day spoken language is metaphors and analogy. This is something we share with the Brits, trying to interpret our conversations literally will often leave you incredibly confused. Dry wit and humour hidden within the language is a common game we play amongst ourselves with the aim of easing any tensions wether or not they exist and putting a smile on other people's faces.

Even a common word used to describe money is based in this dry wit - Quid. From the latin phrase "quid pro quo" meaning to maintain a balance between trading partners. Amongst older Aussies a 20 cent coin is still often referred to as a "two Bob bit". This comes from the old English Schillings with King Robert's head on them, when we changed currency two schillings was worth 20 cents.

It's that same King Robert that gave us the phrase "..and Bob's your uncle.".

 

[JayCee]

so, this is my 2 cents worth ....( someone offering their opinion,possibly in a humble manner).
That is n't worth 2 bits = 25 cents. American English is just full of them.
And they can get extremely more esoteric from there depending on the community your in. Almost like another language .

 

[Outdated]

As tinny as a two Bob watch.

Something of very poor quality. Once again the name refers to old King Robert's head on a 1 schilling coin. Pre 1946 Australia didn't have any steel smelting capabilities and all steel had to be imported, so too anything that required high quality steel in it's manufacture. Before then the hardest metal we could produce locally and cheaply was Nickel Silver and that's what all the parts in a cheap watch were made from.

 

[Judge]

Metaphors, idioms, axioms....whatever it takes to articulate something. Never had any issues regarding them.

Sarcasm however, that's another thing. Where my brain doesn't so easily process it when aimed in my direction.

 

[GHA]

I'm an Aussie. More than half of our every day spoken language is metaphors and analogy. This is something we share with the Brits, trying to interpret our conversations literally will often leave you incredibly confused. Dry wit and humour hidden within the language is a common game we play amongst ourselves with the aim of easing any tensions wether or not they exist and putting a smile on other people's faces.

Even a common word used to describe money is based in this dry wit - Quid. From the latin phrase "quid pro quo" meaning to maintain a balance between trading partners. Amongst older Aussies a 20 cent coin is still often referred to as a "two Bob bit". This comes from the old English Schillings with King Robert's head on them, when we changed currency two schillings was worth 20 cents.

It's that same King Robert that gave us the phrase "..and Bob's your uncle.".

That’s an interesting point — and you’re right, metaphors run through daily language far more than we notice. In cultures like the Aussies or the Brits, it even becomes a kind of social shorthand: humor, wit, and idioms that connect people and ease tension. Your example of “two Bob bit” or “Bob’s your uncle” shows how metaphors carry history, shared memory, and even humor, all packed into a simple phrase.

What I had in mind though was a different layer of metaphor — not the cultural or humorous, but the deeply personal. In my lived experience, especially with neurodivergent minds, I’ve noticed that emotions are often not expressed directly. Instead, they surface in indirect ways: a sketch that looks abstract but carries strong feeling, a phrase or symbol that seems unusual but hides a deep truth, or a metaphor that stands in for something too raw to say openly.

It’s almost as if metaphor becomes their natural emotional language. Not chosen for wit or cleverness, but because it allows what cannot be spoken directly to find safe expression. To an outsider it might look like abstraction, but if you pause and read it carefully, it’s often more powerful than plain words.

So to me, there are at least two faces of metaphor. One is outward — the slang, humor, and shared references that bind people in light conversation. The other is inward — the metaphors that quietly carry unspoken emotions, inner struggles, or hidden strength. Both matter, but it’s this inner use of metaphor that I find most fascinating. It reveals not only what someone thinks, but what they feel and cannot otherwise say.

 

[Judge]

"Bob's your uncle".

One I learned watching an Aussie tech YouTuber named "Nick" from "Gear Seekers".

 

[Outdated]

"Bob's your uncle".

People will throw twists in to that too just to get a smile: "And Robert's your father's brother." and other variations.

....the metaphors that quietly carry unspoken emotions, inner struggles, or hidden strength. Both matter, but it’s this inner use of metaphor that I find most fascinating. It reveals not only what someone thinks, but what they feel and cannot otherwise say.

These are quite common too, especially from people trying to express something painful and yet still trying to wedge something in there a little more light hearted while they're at it.

Mad as a cut snake.
All the emotional maturity of a 6 year old chucking a tantrum.
Like a bull in a china shop.

Traditional old English and European nursery stories are written the same way, carrying lessons and messages that you would never dream of telling to a child in straight language. The most well known example of them is the song Ring A Ring O' Rosey, a child's memory of what happened with the bubonic plague.

 

[Judge]

Just following my Irish relatives is more than enough to follow.

When they toss in some real Norn Iron slang only to smile and ask me, "You look like you just saw the peelers comin'. Have we banjaxed your brain ? Now, now, don't be scundered ! "

 

[Mary Terry]

The southern version of American English is loaded with idioms. Half the country has no idea what we're saying.

My neighbor "will carry" my grandmother to the store. That means give her a ride.
It's "fixing" to rain means rain is imminent.
The beans are planted "over yonder" which means whatever direction you're pointing toward.
I'll "sleep by my friends' house" means I'll spend the night there.
In New Orleans, they "make groceries" which means buy groceries.
She's "big, fat, dumb and happy" which means blissful ignorance.
"Bless her heart" means being polite about something really stupid or disgusting.
He's "two cards short of a full deck" means he's not "right in the head".

There are hundreds more.

 

[JayCee]

yup, if you hear that in the South or midwest that " bless your heart thing" you might check your wallet at the same ..time ... cause if they arent out to get your wallet, chances are they may try to emotionally bankrupt you .But very subtley . consider it a warning as a Aspie, I feel . ( But it sounds Soo very nice.) . .

 

[Aspychata]

That's why poetry can be so interesting as it unfolds into many different meanings of metaphors invoking emotions from places l forgot that even exist.

 

[Manuheleku]

He's got enough money to burn a wet mule! Got this one from a guy from Mississippi years ago.

 

[JayCee]

Tarnation... soft version of cussing ...There are even older ones but not sure , anyone would get it, hec , I did not even know it was a word ?