I ran across a literary metaphor that disturbed me terribly. Actually, it made me laugh, especially since there is a good possibility that I've used this metaphor myself.
The metaphor is:
Giving birth to an idea or concept
Imagine if you will:
A nurse smiles as she wraps a blanket around a roll of soiled documents, which she hands to the doctor. Cradling the swaddled documents in his arms, he approaches the woman exhausted and covered in sweat, lying on the table.
The metaphor is:
Giving birth to an idea or concept
Perhaps, it's just me but the visual imagery far outweighs and overpowers the intended concept.
Imagine if you will:
A nurse smiles as she wraps a blanket around a roll of soiled documents, which she hands to the doctor. Cradling the swaddled documents in his arms, he approaches the woman exhausted and covered in sweat, lying on the table.
"Congratulations Mrs. Quagmire, it's the theoretical sketches for the Turbo Vacu-tattoo."
The beaming dad takes the documents from the doctor and brings it closer for his wife to dote on it.
"It's beautiful," he says.
"Isn't it? I want more pain meds" she says.
"Just think, just a few minutes ago it was growing inside you, and now...." he says.
"Did I mention that I want pain meds?" she says.
"This baby is going places. Just think of all the fun we'll have shaping it and helping it grow."
"Actually, I was hoping to sell it," she says.
"Sell it? No way, this is a labor of love," he says.
"I just went through labor, so I think it's got all the love it needs from me," she says
I could go on for hours with this one, but I'll spare you, and just skip to the point. This is a dumb metaphor. Giving birth is a terribly difficult process and it's extremely messy. The labor alone takes hours.
In contrast coming up with ideas isn't difficult. Anyone who's participated in a brainstorming session can attest to the ridiculous number of ideas which can be produced in a single hour. Granted most of the ideas are ridiculous, but the usability of the ideas is irrelevant. The fact remains that idea production is very easy and therefore cannot be accurately compared to giving birth.
A more accurate metaphor for the whole "idea" thing should be laying an egg. I don't know how easy it is to lay an egg, but considering that the price of a dozen eggs is cheaper than a gallon of milk, I'm going to assume that egg laying is fairly common place for chickens. And maybe we should reserve the birthing metaphor for something a little more complicated, like taking an idea through all the challenges, frustrations, and set-backs and actually making it happen.
"It's beautiful," he says.
"Isn't it? I want more pain meds" she says.
"Just think, just a few minutes ago it was growing inside you, and now...." he says.
"Did I mention that I want pain meds?" she says.
"This baby is going places. Just think of all the fun we'll have shaping it and helping it grow."
"Actually, I was hoping to sell it," she says.
"Sell it? No way, this is a labor of love," he says.
"I just went through labor, so I think it's got all the love it needs from me," she says
I could go on for hours with this one, but I'll spare you, and just skip to the point. This is a dumb metaphor. Giving birth is a terribly difficult process and it's extremely messy. The labor alone takes hours.
In contrast coming up with ideas isn't difficult. Anyone who's participated in a brainstorming session can attest to the ridiculous number of ideas which can be produced in a single hour. Granted most of the ideas are ridiculous, but the usability of the ideas is irrelevant. The fact remains that idea production is very easy and therefore cannot be accurately compared to giving birth.
A more accurate metaphor for the whole "idea" thing should be laying an egg. I don't know how easy it is to lay an egg, but considering that the price of a dozen eggs is cheaper than a gallon of milk, I'm going to assume that egg laying is fairly common place for chickens. And maybe we should reserve the birthing metaphor for something a little more complicated, like taking an idea through all the challenges, frustrations, and set-backs and actually making it happen.
Posts
