“Brass monkey weather” is one of many figurative expressions in English often not recognised as such because they have been around for so long, Laurie Bauer says. OPINION: In Māori Language Week, a few weeks back, much was made of the fact that Māori is a figurative language, and this was seen as a reason for giving the language support. I disagree: every language is full of figurative expressions. All these examples show that English (as an example of a general trend) does not lack figurative expressions. Language Matters is a fortnightly column on all things language.

Source: Stuff November 27, 2022 22:08 UTC