Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Don't You Need a "Deep, Throaty, Genuine Laugh" Today?

Okay, I have totally swiped this from Island Sparrow, but she says it's making the Internet rounds, so I figure it's fair game. Since this is sometimes sort of a lit-blog wanna-be (not lately...) and I know I have readers who will appreciate this:

"...Every year, English teachers from across the country can submit their
collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school
essays.

These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers
across the country. Here are last year's winners....."



1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides
gently compressed by a Thigh Master.

2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances
like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a
guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of
those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country
speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar
eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.

4. She grew on him like a colony of E. Coli, and he was
room-temperature Canadian beef.

5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes
just before it throws up.

6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.

8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated
because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a
surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.

9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a
bowling ball wouldn't.

10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag
filled with vegetable soup.

11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an
eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city
and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.

12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.

13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when
you fry them in hot grease.

14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across
the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having
left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka
at 4:19 pm. at a speed of 35 mph.

15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences
that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.

16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who
had also never met.

17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was
the East River.

18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap,
only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.

19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.

20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil,
this plan just might work.

21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not
eating for a while.

22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either,
but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land
mine or something.

23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender
leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.

24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around
with power tools.

25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells,
as if she were a garbage truck backing up."

Now I wonder if my teacher/professor/homeschooling readers have any to add?

5 comments:

Nicki said...

Those are good! I used to teach in public school and I also used to grade essays on standardized tests, so I've seen quite a few doozeys. They can make for a needed laugh though. :)

I was surfing Mommy Bloggers and found you...although, I've seen you at many of the other places that I already visit.

Anonymous said...

OK...I commented here today...and it's MISSING! Are you erasing my comments or something mamahen? :)

It's late now...but I said something like: Ha! Ha! ROFL! so funny!

*grin*

Pilgrim said...

I love those kids, trying to follow the rules the teacher's set out. THey wrote their hearts out.

Islandsparrow said...

I'm still laughing about these!!

At A Hen's Pace said...

Sparrow--

No, I didn't delete anything! Must be a Blogger thing. It was acting funny last night when I was trying to post--maybe it lost something then.

Good thing it wasn't one of your most creative efforts--ha!