Sunday, February 17, 2008

So easy!

It's like taking bath water from a baby.

Not a mixed metaphor, but today I heard someone say "The world is at a breaking point, literally." I love it when people incorrectly use the world literally. Kevin asked me the other day what it would mean if someone said "that sandwich gave me heartburn, literally." Does the expression heartburn which is a metaphor in itself, does that get modified to mean literally the heart is burning? Or is the concept of 'getting heart burn' usually figurative but the speaker is clarifying that it is actually happening.

I hope it's the former.