A Rant About Analogies

I was pondering analogies while reading an article by Tsu Doh Nimh. It was very helpful to me, but an analogy just jumped out of the first paragraph. It was "...because writing is like woodworking, too much glue weakens the construction." Really? I didn't know that. I use a crap ton of glue.

I like analogies but some of them just throw me. With Tsu's analogy I could figure it out a little. I knew what it meant, sort of. I got the idea behind it though. "Don't over do it".

When an analogy is in writing I can spend time to figure it out what the analogy meant but, when in person, people seem to not get the idea that some analogies just suck for that person. They then try to explain the analogy when it would be easier to just toss the analogy and say what you freaking mean. Here's an example:

I was at my son's asthma appointment when the nurse decided to explain asthma care with an analogy from football. I don't do football. I didn't have a clue as to what she meant. I can't remember the actual comment she made but it was something along the lines of "it's like in football. You can have a game plan but it won't work if the coach and the quarterback are off the field" or something like that. There was another player in there too. I sat there staring at her completely befuddled as to what this cryptic message meant. What does that mean? Is she saying my son should be present? I need to be here? Is this an analogy about the medicine? Is this analogy about the appointments?

I finally explained that I don't play football, don't do football and I have no idea what she meant with her analogy of asthma and football. She kindly started explaining what each player did, the huddle, the jock something or other and a few other football terms and mentioned something about a fumble. FUMBLE! I know what that means! But what does that have to do with asthma? Five minutes of trying to explain the whole football-asthma analogy and she finally blurts out "It means we all need to be on the same page". Okay. So why not say "it helps if we're all the same page" instead of trying to explain football to me?

The whole idea of analogies isn't lost on me. I love analogies! Analogies are like sour cream on a baked potato. They make it better and adds flavor. (See, I can use them too) But if someone says "I don't get it because I never ate potatoes before." Try another analogy or just say what you mean like "Analogies make your writing better, more interesting and exciting." It would be a lot easier than trying to explain the history of potatoes and sour cream. Don't you think?