As
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
As is a connective to compare the similarities of two ideas. Like "like", this is called a simile. But as is more often used in idioms specific to English:
- "Green as grass"
- "Right as rain"
Usually, one idea is more abstract and the other is more concrete - and the connective is intended to be more general than just one situation. When this is so, using "as" may imply that a conceptual metaphor is in effect in other statements:
- "Love as war"
- "Time as a path"
In other words, you can say more generally what an idiom or metaphor says: for example, "battle of the sexes" is both a metaphor and an idiom that suggests "love as war".
Because of this power, you can restate an idiom or metaphor in a way that makes it clear what it means, and what it might assume.
