A Military Writer's Handbook
Common Errors

Mixed Metaphors

A metaphor is a figure of speech that makes a comparison between one thing and another, usually an abstract idea figured as something concrete. A line from a song by Canadian rock star Tom Cochrane well illustrates this: "Life is a highway, I want to ride it all night long." The idea of life as a road we travel with its bumps and turns and rough patches (and sometimes dead ends) is a fitting and familiar image, and a highway is an apt metaphor to express this notion.

Because metaphor is so compelling, making the abstract concrete, some writers become overbalanced with figurative language and use metaphors that are inconsistent with one another. This error is called a mixed metaphor:

Sergeant Yablonsky attempted an end run around the bureaucratic bottleneck.

The beauty, and potential problem, with figurative language is that it creates a visual image in the reader's mind. The first image here comes from football: the ball carrier attempting to run around one end of the defensive line. The second image presents a literal bottle with its narrow neck restricting flow. These two metaphors are not compatible; they generate a confused and perhaps humorous image in the reader's mind.

Help! When you stumble across a mixed metaphor in your writing, regain balance in your sentence by picking one image—one figure of speech—and following through consistently.

Once we get a foot in the door we can keep the ball rolling.

An admirable feat it would be to keep a ball rolling while one foot is stuck in a door. Consider going with a game metaphor:

Once the game is underway we can keep the ball rolling.

Be attentive to figures of speech in your writing. Try to choose something that is fresh and fitting to your idea. And unless you are a rodeo clown, don't try to grab the bull by the horns and run with it.