They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Some pictures can, indeed, say more than any number of words. It works the other way around as well. One or two well chosen words can immediately trigger a mental picture that says exactly what you want to. A good tool for creating such images is the metaphor.

Metaphors describe one thing by talking about it as if it is something else. "The teacher told him to tame his messy mop." "She is always late because she is a snail with nowhere to go." Can you see how these metaphors enliven speech? In contrast, speaking plainly about untidy hair and slow walking is dull.

When I say that my aunt is Santa Claus, you picture her as a jolly, generous gift giver. But, what if I add that her scarf is a TV screen when nothing is showing? This makes sense only to those who know that, long ago, a multicoloured design appeared on television screens whenever there were no programmes. Nowadays, the TV-screen image doesn't work. So, the trick is to use as metaphors what is familiar to your listeners.

Some metaphors have become very common. Your teacher says, "This class is a marketplace!" Everyone knows that she means it is very noisy and busy. No one thinks that you have fish, meat and vegetable stalls in your classroom. Likewise, when you say that you have butterflies in your stomach, we figure that you feel nervous. We won't think for a moment that you have insects flying about in your tummy. Having shared metaphors like these adds to our sense of belonging in a language community.

At the same time, new and original metaphors are breaths of fresh air. And so, the next time you want to describe something, create a metaphor. You might just see your friends turn into sponges soaking in every word of yours.

- MARY GEORGE