<B>The British Council?s language clinic with ?Dr Danny? </B>

Hello and welcome to the English Language Clinic. Following last week?s article on the use of apostrophes, I have been asked to give some examples of ?contractions? (two words joined to form one new word, containing an apostrophe). So, from this point on, I?ll use contractions? like that one (I?ll).

The area of language I?ve (there?s another one) been asked to discuss this week is the use of ?simile? (pronounced ?si-milly?). A simile is a comparison of one thing to another, using either ?as? or ?like?. For example ?the sea is like a mirror? or ?the sea is as wild as a tiger?. Similes are often used in poetry and other forms of creative writing. They can be used to describe a particular characteristic of something by comparing it to something else, as in ?she sounds like a car alarm? or ?it tastes like chicken?. They?re also used to capture the essence of something that would otherwise be very difficult to describe. For example ?a good story is like a friend? or ?I?m as lonely as an odd sock?. It?s important to remember that the word ?like? has a number of other uses, one of which is to express a desire for something; this has been the cause of some very bad jokes. ?I feel like a cup of tea.? ?Really, you don?t look like one!?

Similes are similar in many ways to ?metaphors?. However, whereas a simile compares one thing to another, a metaphor describes them as being the same. For example ?my brother ate my sandwich, he's a pig? or ?the angry wind beat its fists on the window?. The opposite of metaphorical meaning is ?literal? meaning; it's important to know which is intended. As an example of this, consider the following idioms, all of which mean that something is good. ?It was ?blinding?, ?out of sight?, ?unbelievable?? totally ?on fire?!?

Please send your comments, queries and questions to ?Dr Danny? emailing [email protected] To find out more about the British Council?s English Courses please call on 403 0200.