What characteristics comprise a "good" metaphor?

I have a fair degree of understanding of metaphors, but I don’t feel confident that I understand your question. Perhaps some details are necessary after all (they usually are).

“Good” is generally subjective. Everyone has personal preference and taste.

Generally speaking are there any criteria that a metaphor should always conform to?

Then on a more personal note what makes a metaphor likeable or entices a reader to keep on reading.

How would you edit your own flights of fancy?

I like metaphors that make me smile. It can be from any angle. I love to laugh and I don’t take anything too seriously. Just go for it.

@Adirondackwannabe Do they pills for the level of chill you have achieved?

I don’t have a pill. And there is a temper in here, but I’ve learned to control it. It’s like a fine wine, you just let it age and enjoy it. :)

Not a wine buff. My ignorance aside I can say not all wine ages well.

In general I find I have more of the temperment of a braying donkey. A little kick on one end and some biting on the other. Not sure if that wouldn’t turn out to be abravise on the palatte.

So you are wasting fine wine on an ass. : )

A good metaphor is a clear one, like glass.

@Red_Turtle LMAO. That is awesome. I’ve never wasted fine wine on an ass, but now I want to so so bad.

Well the ass doesn’t transform into ear.

*explanation required- I find ears delicate, erotic and entrancing.

But it may transform into a boob.

@Red_Turtle Sorry, I got a little wild. I’d love to lick the wine off. But it risks a yeast infection. I love ears too. Plus I love boobs.

In other words you are a hetero man.

@Red_Turtle Yes I am, but I worked for years with a gay male and it completely cured me of any homophobia. I used to have a little of that, not much but a touch. It’s gone now.

Interesting you can’t “cure” homosexuals but you can “cure” homophobes. I do believe we have stumbled across the very next therapy. What say you and I go into business start a TV show and “cure” the world of haters.

@Red_Turtle It was interesting. He and his guy were amazing. They were as normal and kind as anyone I’ve ever met. But one thing was unusual: His decorating was atroucious. He painted his office blood red. His Dad said it was crying out to be put out of it’s misery.

The only thing I can add to this thread is my personal thanks—and I’m betting @Jeruba and others agree—for your using the word “comprise” correctly in your question. The incorrect “comprised of” is rampant nowadays, and as hard as I fought against it on my job, I knew I was licked when my manager, a PR writer, once told me she didn’t have a problem with it. KUDOS, @Red_Turtle!

Night guys. See you in the morning.

@Pachyderm_In_The_Room, I’m sorry, but she or he didn’t. “Comprise” means “consists of.” Correct use would have been “A good metaphor comprises what characteristics?” Actually, even that is dubious if you don’t agree that a thing consists of or is made up of its characteristics. Best would have been “A good metaphor possesses what characteristics?” or, more straightforwardly, “What are the characteristics of a good metaphor?”

Here is a list of metaphors/anaologies entitled “Why English Teachers Die Young.” (from Snopes.com., please note)

A good metaphor is like gold.

No, wait! A good metaphor is gold.

@Jeruba, re-reading the original question, I see clearly that I was mistaken. Thanks for setting me straight.

@Pachyderm_In_The_Room Thanks for the Kudos even if you are an Indian giver. *winks

@Jeruba Admittedly the sentence seemed a little clunky to me.

@rebbel An example and a characteristic, mucho gracias!

@gailcalled Thank you for the laughs. I especially liked the one with the maggots and the frying pan or was it the ballet dancer and the dog, nope not that one either. I liked it so much I can’t remember it.

Those examples were so bad that the writers must have been quite good. As explained in the paragraph below those examples were cringe worthy but deliberately so.

However by seeing the extreme it did give me a general idea of what not to do.
I will jot out a quick list so I can remember them:
-Consider the audience,
-What tone are you trying to convey,
-The comparison should have an equal gravitas as the subject.
-If the audience squirms, pinches their face in disgust, or is otherwise cringeworthy, you might want to reconsider the audience or the metaphor.

*And as rebbel stated clarity or drawing a picture for the reader.

That is all I got.

@CWOTUS So a great metaphor is platinum?

@Red_Turtle: A metaphor is either successful or not; at the very least it should clarify understanding.

“All the world’s a stage’ vs., say, ‘All the world’s an iPod.”

The audience is irrelevant, the tone is irrelevant, and comparisons cannot have gravitas.

@gailcalled Really? I imagine some might find the hailstones and maggots to be appropriate as part of a grisly macrabe tale. I have never deep fried maggots but was quite sure I knew what it would look like after reading that line.

What about the one with laugh like a dog’s vomiting hack. I do know someone who could pass for goose his laughter so closely resembles a honk. And the sound of a dog vomiting is not pleasant but even as a non dog owner I am closely attuned to recognize and register the noise.

Or hair glistening in the rain like nose hairs afters a sneeze… Hmm that one is redundant.

But even pulling from the worst of the worst I found some memorable gems. And my mental imagery was going nuts.