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Funny metaphors used in high school essays

Just in case you need some writing inspiration. Every year, English teachers from across the USA can submit their collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers across the country. Here are last year’s winners:

1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.

2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.

4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli, and he was room temperature Canadian beef.

5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.

6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.

8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife’s infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.

9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t.

10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.

11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you’re on vacation in another
city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30

12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.

13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.

14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.

15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan’s teeth.

16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.

18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.

19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.

20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.

21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.

22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.

23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.

24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.

25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.

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Bex offline Verified User (1 year, 5 months) Long Term User Shouts: 3 #
An Undisclosed Location | 7 months, 3 weeks ago (20 minutes after post)

This is our future here people! Be afraid!

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Arnday the Imbroglio offline Verified User (1 year, 3 months) Long Term User Shouts: 3 #
West Kirby, 90, GB | 7 months, 3 weeks ago (25 minutes after post)

they are truely amazing :D

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UCreateUrReality offline Verified User (1 year, 1 month) Long Term User Shouts: 6 #
Atlanta, GA, US | 7 months, 3 weeks ago (1 hour, 4 minutes after post)

Hey, at least most of them have good imaginations!

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OliveOil offline Verified User (1 year, 1 month) Long Term User Shouts: 62 #
An Undisclosed Location | 7 months, 3 weeks ago (1 hour, 31 minutes after post)

LOL! I love it! I passed it on to a very good friend of mine who is a college English instructor with a note about what she could expect to see in the spring semester! Ha ha!

Our future? Yikes! I think our current president may have had some influence over these budding writers. Ha ha!

Really though these remind me of Jack Handey’s “Deep Thoughts” …perhaps we will end up with some future comedians out of this if they don’t take themselves too seriously.

http://www.deepthoughtsbyjackhandey.com/

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Jade offline Verified User (1 year, 3 months) Long Term User Shouts: 1 #
An Undisclosed Location | 7 months, 3 weeks ago (2 hours after post)

Oh…that was good…thanks for the laugh! Shivers at #24 though… hmmm..maybe I need to get the power tools back from my ex!!!

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theresape offline Verified User (8 months, 3 weeks) Long Term User Shouts: 10 #
Waltham, MA, US | 7 months, 3 weeks ago (2 hours, 52 minutes after post)

These are FABULOUS! As a professional writer, I have observed that one of the hardest things to teach kids is to write metaphors from the heart. Nearly every one of these metaphors is spot-on honest, and most are rollickingly funny as well. I expect most of these writers to be published some day. I am absolutely serious. The next J.D. Salinger has been quoted above.

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slimline2 offline Verified User (1 year, 2 months) Long Term User Shouts: 1 #
Liston, 02, AU | 7 months, 3 weeks ago (3 hours, 31 minutes after post)

love the lame duck..

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heavencent91 offline Verified User (7 months, 3 weeks) Long Term User Shouts: 1 #
An Undisclosed Location | 7 months, 2 weeks ago (10 hours after post)

This was amazing! I’m definitely sending it to my English teaching friends!

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ambivispice offline Verified User (7 months, 3 weeks) Long Term User Shouts: 1 #
An Undisclosed Location | 7 months, 2 weeks ago (12 hours, 22 minutes after post)

ja ja ja = love it! (I’m in AP Literature, we write essays daily. I’m going to try adding in things like this now. ha ha ha)

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pseudoniem offline Verified User (1 year, 1 month) Long Term User Shouts: 2 #
Den Haag, 11, NL | 7 months, 2 weeks ago (3 days, 8 hours after post)

I think most of these writers have a great imagination and will do something impressive at some point in their life. I loved reading them!

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fengshuisweetheart offline Verified User (11 months) Long Term User Shouts: 2 #
Grand Rapids, MI, US | 7 months, 2 weeks ago (5 days, 11 hours after post)

Love it!

Where do they submit them? And is it only K-12?

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fengshuisweetheart offline Verified User (11 months) Long Term User Shouts: 2 #
Grand Rapids, MI, US | 7 months, 2 weeks ago (5 days, 11 hours after post)

Duh– “high school essays” — I need sleep.

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MamaBear {Felicity} offline Verified User (8 months) Long Term User Shouts: 217 #
An Unknown Location | 7 months, 2 weeks ago (5 days, 11 hours after post)

tears are falling like ……rotfl

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UCreateUrReality offline Verified User (1 year, 1 month) Long Term User Shouts: 6 #
Atlanta, GA, US | 7 months, 2 weeks ago (5 days, 12 hours after post)

I dont know where it came from but it was labeled High school.

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ecrumble offline Unverified User #
Denver, CO, US | 7 months, 1 week ago (1 week, 6 days after post)

I really like those. They made me laugh, a lot. fun stuff, keep it comin’ Layrnie

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x0Julie_Babie0x_ offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 5 months, 3 weeks ago (1 month, 3 weeks after post)

Good stuff. I agree with theresape. Brilliant.

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lucyg offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 4 weeks ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

In country where George W. Bush is president, there is no surprise anyone can write: “The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you’re on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30”. I find the whole thing highly amusing! Thanks for sharing!

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nun offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 4 weeks ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

Yes, because all of these are written by high-schoolers, and not incredibly famous and visible authors like Douglas Adams. (You assholes.)

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bigya offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 4 weeks ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

These were determined to be fakes a long time ago, but they keep getting circulated.

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raxkz offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 4 weeks ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

Very funny list of stuff. Thanks for sharing. # 16 is great. So unassuming.
John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

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saving offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 4 weeks ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

These are similes….not metaphors.

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roxino offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 4 weeks ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

These aren’t necessarily bad metaphors/similes. In fact, a certain level of untapped genius is evident in them. You know, like that you’d find in an intro to creative writing class.

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kevi offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 4 weeks ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

Several of these are paraphrased Douglas Adams lines.

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jar offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 4 weeks ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

yeah. similes. i love how the reddit crowd has stormed the comments with criticism and logic. w00t.

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dad offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 4 weeks ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

the boat that floated like a bowling ball wouldn’t is indeed a paraphrased douglas adams line. He wrote something like “the spaceships hung in the sky like bricks don’t”.

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j0n offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 3 weeks, 6 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

Although these quotes may have been collected by English teachers, the author of this article certainly isn’t–(s)he doesn’t know the difference between a simile and a metaphor!

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ambivispice offline Verified User (7 months, 3 weeks) Long Term User Shouts: 1 #
An Undisclosed Location | 3 weeks, 6 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

- Your post has ended up on Stumbleupon. ha ha- you might see a slight increase in comments

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stewki offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 3 weeks, 6 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

That’s actually how I came across this - although I’ve seen it on plenty of occasions.

For those of you criticizing my generation, don’t forget who raised it. :’)

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v.x. offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 3 weeks, 6 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

metaphors are when you directly correlate something without using the word “like” or “as”

so alot of these are similes. just figure i’d point it out.

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mazbut_p offline Verified User (3 weeks, 6 days) Shouts: 0 #
An Unknown Location | 3 weeks, 6 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

amusing !

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gbbs_ offline Verified User (3 weeks, 6 days) Shouts: 0 #
An Unknown Location | 3 weeks, 6 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

lol lol lol lol lol

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jcl2002200 offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 3 weeks, 6 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

These aren’t from real high school students. These are from a Washington Post contest to come up with bad metaphors. So these are written by adults trying to write like high school students with poor english writing skills like a foreign person who also has bad english writing skills, but in his native language, not english.

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hawkm offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 3 weeks, 6 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

just thought id let you know, those are similys not metaphors i mean your english teachers right?

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bobbyrbruc offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 3 weeks, 6 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

Anyone sad enough to post “these are similys not metaphors…. geez, it’s just a piece of fun

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robinthewrite offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 3 weeks, 6 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

Funny stuff, but some of em are similes. If it’s meant to be at all educational, people should know that. Simile ‘is like’, metaphor ‘is’. TA DA!

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dolphinznkatz0 offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 3 weeks, 6 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

most of those are similies…

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Corinna0 offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 3 weeks, 5 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

I don’t believe this is meant to be at all educational… But thanks!

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am offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 3 weeks, 5 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

These are hilarious, even if most of them aren’t metaphors! I think number ten was actually very clever! Number seven made me laugh out loud.

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rose555005 offline Unverified User #
An Undisclosed Location | 3 weeks, 5 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

Who cares where this list came from…it’s just meant to be amusing…

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weepingwillow___ offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 3 weeks, 4 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

Regardless of their origin I found a number of these to be quite acurate and moving. Number twenty had more than one meaning and it was brilliant :)

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bitterglu offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 3 weeks, 4 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

these were absolutely genius and hilarious. i agree with theresape- there are updike’s and salinger’s up there. brilliant.

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marthawelch7 offline Verified User (3 weeks, 3 days) Shouts: 0 #
An Unknown Location | 3 weeks, 3 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

lolz @ . John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

just hilarious.

————————–
http://www.educationalwriting.net/the…

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nop offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 3 weeks, 3 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

I must a few stress points already made, much like these ‘children’ do. The coherence of the writing points toward either revision, or flat out compilation. The voice invoked is singular, as are the comedic devices. This is just brilliant, Douglas Adams would be proud. I would guess the humor is British, as it has the trademark wit and sarcasm, as well as timing, employed by the ordinary for the ordinary, concealed within run on sentences, and half completed thoughts (most of which scorn cultural nitwits).

Again, bravo, author, whomever you may be.

Or editor, whomever you may be.

I said this, but it means that. Brilliant. Jack Handy indeed.

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Lizziestyle1 offline Verified User (3 weeks, 3 days) Shouts: 0 #
An Unknown Location | 3 weeks, 3 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

i dont necessarily believe that these kids were doing this on purpose. as a 15 year old girl in high school, in an advanced program called IB, kids are dumb and will use anologies/ metaphors like this and we cant spell that great yet we make great grades. the kids who wrote these were just writing anything to make the assignment go faster b/c they could probably care less.

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bigban offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 3 weeks, 3 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

These are similes…not metaphors

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mobyd4 offline Unverified User #
An Unknown Location | 3 weeks, 3 days ago (6 months, 3 weeks after post)

These were funny! But many of them are not from high school students. Someone pointed out that some may come from a Washington Post contest. I’ve seen others in the Bulwer-Litton contest for the “worst opening sentence of a novel.” The contest isn’t about novels that have actually been written, just for opening sentences. Check out http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/ for more fun.

It really doesn’t matter that all the entries in this blog aren’t from high school students. It’s still a fun read.

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