ShmoopTube

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[Coop and Dino singing]

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Sometimes, being straightforward with language is so boring. [Person crosses out life is good]

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If you're a playful person, you might want your words to reflect that!

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So you might choose to use a little thing called "figurative language."

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Figurative language is when something means something other than its most obvious literal [Coop discussing figurative language]

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meaning. It's used a lot to exaggerate or emphasize something....

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...or just to have fun. Seriously, Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein, Roald Dahl? They were all

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about figurative language. And those were the most fun guys around.

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You know who else is super fun and loves figurative language? Yep, Shmoop! [Man giving presentation]

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...Well. We think we're kind of fun.

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...Stop laughing.

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One kind of figurative language is the simile. It doesn't get more fun than similes. Seriously, [Boy being photographed]

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the word is just one letter away from "smile."

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Similes are when something is compared to something else using the words "like" or "as."

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You could say your friend is "as bright as a light bulb." Or maybe your dog is "as smelly

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as dirty socks." Or your mom is "sweet like candy."

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All of those are similes because they compare one thing to another thing using like or as,

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and they're all an example of a "figure of speech" because they're not literal.

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When you say your friend is bright, you don't mean that he's walking around glowing in the [Person switches lights off]

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dark, though that would be pretty cool, and would probably make him a superhero.

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Metaphors are similar to similes because they also compare one thing to another in a figurative [Dino discussing metaphors]

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way, but they skip all that "like" or "as" stuff and just say that one thing is another thing.

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For example, if someone eats a lot of food in a messy way, you might call them a pig.

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Of course, they're not literally a pig, they're just eating like one.

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Bam. Metaphor. [Waiter approaches man with the bill]

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Another example would be when a parent calls their child a "shining star."

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No, we don't mean the weird glowing kid again. The parent is just using figurative language

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to say their kid is amazing and brilliant, which parents tend to do.

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So let's recap- a simile is a comparison using "like" or "as," and a metaphor is a comparison [Coop discussing similie and metaphor summary]

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that says one thing is another thing.

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Both similes and metaphors are examples of figurative language, or a figure of speech.

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When Katy Perry tells you that "baby, you're a firework," she isn't trying to warn you

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that you might explode any second now. She's using a figure of speech to say that you're [Man strains and head explodes]

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super-duper special and awesome.

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...Now that you know all about figurative language, it's time to go fight crime with

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your glowing friend! Glow Boy and Figurative Language...Person...Thing...? [Boys wearing capes prepare to fight crime]

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...Okay. We'll go work on a cooler name.

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