Is it called a metaphor if it's literally true?
Order of Kilopi
Is it called a metaphor if it's literally true?
Order of Kilopi
You’re right, it is not a metaphor. Nor an analogy. It’s just an interesting fact.Originally Posted by Chuck
As above, so below
Order of Kilopi
'As hot as a tandoori oven' is a simile. And a useful one, although you need to qualify it quite a bit before it is accurate.
Order of Kilopi
"As hot as the hottest tandoori oven."
I personally prefer "as hot as" or "hot enough to melt [x]" to "hot enough to boil [x]". The problem with boiling is it's very sensitive to ambient pressure, whereas melting is much less affected. So while Venus is hot enough to boil sulphur at one atmosphere, it's not hot enough at Venusian atmospheric pressure. And if one chooses a substance that will boil under Venusian surface conditions, the effect is less impressive if people mentally refer back to one standard atmosphere.
There's potential for confusion, there.
Grant Hutchison
Order of Kilopi
Melting points are a bit more suitable than boiling points. They're not unaffected by pressure, but the effect outside of a gas giant or planetary core is less dramatic.
"Just 200 K short of being hot enough to melt aluminum" is at least accurate and avoids giving the impression that it'll melt everything, but rather awkward.
Moderator
Honestly, I don't see why it matters. The average person has as much feel for how hot it needs to be to melt lead as they do for boiling sulfur or using a tandoori oven or melting tellurium or the temperature of a car engine - in other words, none what's so ever.
How many people have actually ever melted lead or used a tandoori oven?
It is like all these size of objects analogies (like for asteroids) "as big as Texas" or "as big as Rhode Island" (I don't know what they use on other continents). People don't have an intrinsic feel for how big Rhode Island is either.
Order of Kilopi
I agree. But we're here because the OP asked the question. If we only ever got involved in answering questions we thought were going to produce a net gain in human understanding, this forum would be even quieter than it currently is.
(By the way, I originally read your second para as "How many people have actually ever melted lead using a tandoori oven." That seemed a pretty exacting standard.)
Grant Hutchison
Last edited by grant hutchison; 2020-Oct-26 at 10:33 PM.
Order of Kilopi
This thread reminded me of something similar from my youth years, and I posted it over in Off Topic Babbling.
Order of Kilopi
Hot enough to inspire "hot enough" discussions.
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