A metaphor was a specific term, phrase, or often idiom, that used to make a comparison between two common things that were not alike. These types of comparisons were often tools used to create an analogy. The Tamarian language was based on metaphors. (TNG: "Darmok")
Discussing the interruption in the USS Enterprise sensors caused by the red bursts detected in 2257, Commander Michael Burnham described the interruption as "like a compass at the north pole." Evan Connolly indicated he found the "metaphor" simplistic, though Burnham corrected him that her statement was more accurately described as a simile. Captain Christopher Pike admired her correction, noting: "He said you were smart." (DIS: "Brother")
William T. Riker referred to the Earth nursery rhyme, "What Are Little Boys Made Of?", which stated: "Girls are made from sugar and spice, boys are made from snips and snails... and puppy dog tails," to describe the "old-fashioned way of looking at the sexes" to the androgynous Soren. He later clarified that "physically, men are bigger, stronger" and that they "have different sexual organs." He also noted that "men can't bear young." (TNG: "The Outcast")
Upon his retirement from being the Grand Nagus, Zek appointed Rom to be his successor, explaining the role metaphorically as "It's a great responsibility to stand at the bow of the Ferengi ship of state. A Nagus has to navigate the waters of the Great Material Continuum, avoid the shoals of bankruptcy and seek the strong winds of prosperity." (DS9: "The Dogs of War")
Metaphors[]
- "A mother hen"
- When Major J. Hayes returned to duty, despite Doctor Phlox's concerns, Malcolm Reed explained to Hayes that "I'm afraid [the Doctor's] a bit of a mother hen." (ENT: "Countdown")
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard accused Commander Riker of being a mother hen, by first stating "Oh, cluck, cluck, Number One," when the commander disapproved of the captain beaming down to Ramatis III along with Riva in 2365. (TNG: "Loud As A Whisper")
- When Captain Benjamin Sisko and Odo were about to depart Earth, Sisko began to remind his father, Joseph to not forget to take his medicine, before the elder Sisko interrupted him and asked Odo if his son was "always such a mother hen?" Odo simply replied that "he means well." (DS9: "Paradise Lost")
- In a holodeck recreation, Commander William T. Riker referred to Manua Apgar who was living isolated with her husband, Tanugan scientist Doctor Nel Apgar on the Tanuga IV science station as "a princess in a very high tower." (TNG: "A Matter of Perspective")
This might be a metaphor referring to the Earth fairy tale Rapunzel.
- "A stack of books with legs"
- Gary Mitchell so remembered James Kirk when both were in the Starfleet Academy's Presidio Campus, quoting other midshippersonnel as having warned him, "Watch out for Lieutenant Kirk! In his class you either think--or sink." (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before")
- "A stitch in time saves nine"
- Jean-Luc Picard once stated that he wanted Data to "put a stitch in time and, er, save much more than nine." (TNG: "We'll Always Have Paris")
- TNG: "When The Bough Breaks", "Cost Of Living"; DS9: "The Alternate", "The Visitor"; VOY: "Faces"
- "A trail of broken hearts"
- VOY: "The Disease"
- "A walking calculator"
- Gosheven about Data to Ard'rian McKenzie. (TNG: "The Ensigns of Command")
- "A walking database"
- VOY: "Nothing Human"
- "A walking medical encyclopedia"
- The Doctor, stating his strengths. (VOY: "Nothing Human")
- "A walking powder keg"
- James T. Kirk about Lazarus. (TOS: "The Alternative Factor")
- "A walking tin can with circuits for intestines"
- Ira Graves as Data, about Data. (TNG: "The Schizoid Man")
- "A walking pile of circuitry and memory cells"
- Geordi La Forge about Data and his accomplishment. (TNG: "The Most Toys")
- "Achilles' heel"
Any single and potentially devastating vulnerability in an otherwise invincible enemy.
- During the Neutral Zone Incursion of 2266, Captain James T. Kirk identified the Achilles heel of a Romulan Bird-of-Prey that had been attacking the USS Enterprise as their need to disengage their cloaking device in order to launch their weapon, as it consumed all their energy. He planned to fire phasers at them when they dropped it. (TOS: "Balance of Terror")
- In 2367, Beverly Crusher described the Borg's interdependence as their Achilles' heel. She suggested that removing Jean-Luc Picard from their collective consciousness was akin to asking someone to disconnect one of their own limbs. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II")
- Later that year, Q was delighted to discover Picard's Achilles heel; the Human emotion of love. He told Picard that if he'd known about this vulnerability which Vash had managed to unearth, he'd have appeared to the captain as a female instead. (TNG: "Qpid")
In the novelization of What You Leave Behind, Commander Kira Nerys calls the cargo bay doors of Dominion Headquarters the Dominion's "Achilles hell." Although she is corrected by Elim Garak, she is sure her pronunciation is correct.
- "(Someone is) all thumbs"
- According to an injured Enrique Muniz, "The nurses around here are all thumbs." (DS9: "The Ship")
- "(A) battle of wits"
- "Battle of the sexes"
- TNG: "The Outcast"
- "Beat the hell out of (someone)" / "Kick the hell out of (someone)"
- DS9: "Far Beyond the Stars"
- Trip Tucker (ENT: "The Xindi")
- "Beat the tar out of (someone)"
- James T. Kirk (TOS: "Shore Leave")
- "Break (someones) heart" (TOS
- "Who Mourns for Adonais?"; TNG: "The Last Outpost");
"Broke(n) (someones) heart" (TNG: "Haven", "The Hunted", "Brothers"; DS9: "The Muse", "A Simple Investigation", "Ferengi Love Songs"; VOY: "The Q and the Grey", "The Disease", "Fair Haven", "Inside Man")
- "(The) cat's out of the bag"
- TNG: "In Theory"; VOY: "Worst Case Scenario"
- "Character assassination"
- TNG: "Time's Arrow"
The "chicken and the egg" was a paradox, usually posed as the question, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"
- In an alternate anti-time future created by Q, retired captain Jean-Luc Picard, used the question of the chicken the egg as a metaphor to explain the paradox of the anti-time anomaly to Geordi La Forge, Beverly Picard, Data, and William Riker aboard the USS Enterprise-D. (TNG: "All Good Things...")
- In 2372, Torres described establishing communication with a duplicate of the USS Voyager by getting them to recalibrate their comm frequency carrier wave before they'd first made contact as "the chicken and the egg." (VOY: "Deadlock")
- In the 31st century, Jonathan Archer described Daniels' urgent need to restore the original timeline by returning the captain to the 22nd century while lacking the technology to do so as "a chicken or the egg problem." (ENT: "Shockwave, Part II")
- Archer again said "Chicken or the egg" after Daniels had sent Enterprise NX-01 back in time to 1944 to stop Vosk's temporal incursions, and it became apparent that the timeline had changed prior to the 1940s, with Lenin's death in 1916. (ENT: "Storm Front, Part II")
- "Cold feet"
- TNG: "Data's Day"; DS9: "Indiscretion", "A Time to Stand"; VOY: "Timeless"
- "Friendly vessel"
- TOS: "Mudd's Women"
- "I burn [...]. My eyes are flame. My heart is flame."
- "I dream of a galaxy where your eyes are stars and the universe worships the night."
- William T. Riker to Guinan. (TNG: "The Dauphin", "Shades of Gray")
- "If you're going to ride in the Kentucky Derby, you don't leave your prized stallion in the stable."
- Said to be used where Leonard McCoy was from, however, Spock found it to be "a curious metaphor, doctor, as a stallion must first be broken before it can reach its potential." (Star Trek)
"In a nutshell" (VOY: "Unforgettable", "One", "Drone")
- "Life is an endless stream of choices"
- "Life is but a dream"
- TNG: "Face Of The Enemy"; VOY: "Prime Factors"
- "(The) mouth of that chasm."
- (ENT: "Breaking the Ice")
- "(The) mouth of the cave."
- (VOY: "State of Flux"; ENT: "Strange New World")
- "(The) mouth of the wormhole."
- (DS9: "Emissary", "Past Prologue", "Battle Lines", "The Siege", "Call to Arms")
- "Music to my ears"
- Quark on the increased decibels of his bar. (DS9: "The Way of the Warrior")
- Kasidy Yates after Benjamin Sisko surprised her and welcomed her home. (DS9: "Take Me Out to the Holosuite")
- Vic Fontaine regarding Julian Bashir's comment, "pop open the champagne". (DS9: "Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang")
- "My ears are better than the average dog's."
- "My eyes are as mysterious as the stars."
- From William Shakespeare, as quoted by Jean-Luc Picard. (TNG: "Ménage à Troi")
- "My mind is floating between two places.
- Stated by Paul Manheim, adding "It is difficult to know which is which." (TNG: "We'll Always Have Paris")
- "Nerves of steel"
- "(Eating out of) / (in the) palm of her hand(s)."
- "Put out to pasture."
- A phrase used in Starfleet to describe a very senior officer who no longer had a real purpose or the ability to command. As such, "being put out to pasture" usually implied be given a meaningless assignment to finish one's tenure. James T. Kirk observed this with General Korrd on Nimbus III, and hoped that when Kirk was put out to pasture he fared better than Koord. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)
- "Saber rattling" (VOY
- "Body and Soul"; "Rattle his saber" (DS9: "Broken Link")
- "(A) savage thrust into the very heart of the Dominion."
- Jake Sisko's description of the upcoming first Battle of Chin'toka to his father, Benjamin Sisko. Jake saw that his father didn't exactly approve of the verbiage, cause Jake to quickly add, "That's not how I would write it", leaving Ben to respond, "That's a relief". (DS9: "Tears of the Prophets")
- "Shell of a man"
- Following the accident that claimed the independence of Christopher Pike, James T. Kirk described his current condition to being that of "a shell of a man", who was unable to speak or move. (TOS: "The Menagerie, Part II")
- "Shell of flesh"
- How Kollos described his experience at a humanoid during a mind meld with Spock. (TOS: "Is There in Truth No Beauty?")
- VOY: "Critical Care"
- "Smoking gun"
- "The smell of hatred, the stench of jealousy permeates you."
- James T. Kirk to Miranda Jones about Kollos. (TOS: "Is There in Truth No Beauty?")
- "Time is the fire in which we burn"
- A saying quoted by Tolian Soran. (Star Trek Generations)
- "Time is running out"
- TOS: "A Taste of Armageddon", "The Empath", "All Our Yesterdays"; Star Trek Generations; et al.)
- "What burns in their eyes, fires my soul."
- "Ying and yang"
- "It's the medicinal ying to the shield's yang." (VOY: "Inside Man")
The actual references are to "yin" and "yang."
- "You are my anchor"
- Ves Alkar to Deanna Troi. (TNG: "Man Of The People")
- "You are my eyes and my ears"
See also[]
- Big Apple
- Colorful metaphor
- Eye of the storm
- Figurehead
- Holy Grail
- Nautical terms
- Rosetta Stone
- "You Are My Sunshine"
Figures of speech |
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Adages • Allusion • Aphorism • Axiom • Cliché • Colloquialism • Euphemism • Hyperbole • Idiom • Metaphor • Motto • Onomatopoeia • Oxymoron • Personification • Profanity • Proverb • Quotation • Rhetoric • Rhetorical question • Saying • Simile • Slang |
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