An American publisher has compiled a list of "the worst analogies ever written by pupils at US high schools". They include the following.
The most literal-minded entry reads:
- He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.
- John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
- The hailstones leapt from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
- 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 6.35pm travelling at 55mph, the other from Topeka at 4.19pm at a speed of 35mph.
Courtesy The Week.