Communicating with Metaphors, page 13

Hyperbole, continued

True, McClelland might have said the same thing with far fewer words. An alternative with much the same meaning would have been “There are many ways to blend pixels in Photoshop.”

But someone reading this extended riff on the Simon song will never forget the fact, and may also remember the Smudge tool, the Clone Stamp, and so on.

While I’m discussing a figure of speech in the context of a description of a software feature, I think I should make it clear that almost all description of technical concepts relies heavily on metaphors and other tropes. It is almost impossible to convey the sense of a concept without using a figure of speech.

Here’s another example from the world of software, a delineation of the concept and feature of layers in the Photoshop program using a metaphor (and a related simile):

If you are asking “what are layers?” here’s a brief rundown. (If layers are as familiar as the back of your hand, skip this paragraph and the next one, too.) Imagine that you have three pieces of clear window glass and three colored markers, say orange, black, and red. In your mind, take the orange marker and scribble on the first piece of glass. Next, take the black marker and scribble on the second piece of glass. Then, take the red marker and scribble on the third piece of glass. You now have three pieces of glass with a different colored scribble on each one. Take the three pieces of glass and place them one on top of the other (let’s put the orange scribble on the bottom, stack the black scribble next, and put the red scribbled glass on top). As you look through the glass you can see three different scribbles. If you want to erase some of the red scribble, you can do so because the red scribbled glass is on top. But, notice that if you want to change the orange scribble, that piece of glass is on the bottom and you’re going to have to reshuffle the deck of glass to get to it. Also, any change you make to a scribble on one piece of glass affects only that piece of glass. The other scribbles are separate and don’t change.

Each layer is like one of those pieces of clear glass....

If you are writing about technical matters, it’s important to understand that most of your best descriptions will rely heavily on figures of speech such as metaphors and hyperbole. These, however, should be created with discipline and clarity. The fact that you may have to use a figure of speech in technical writing is no excuse for sloppiness.

Continued next page

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