Metonymy

A metonymy is similar to a metaphor, but different in function.

The function of a metaphor is understanding via comparison.

The function of a metonymy is simply reference, no more.

Examples:
Metonymy Type 1: Part refers to whole (Also Known As: Synecdoche)

There are two mouths to feed in my family.

[mouth refers to person]

God bless the hands that prepared this food.

[hand refers to person]

I count twenty heads at the party.

[head refers to person]

Metonymy Type 2: Producer refers to product:

Our company just bought a new Xerox machine.

[Xerox is the name of a company that produces copy machines; Xerox machine refers to copy
machine]

Metonymy Type 3: Object refers to user:

The crown ordered all soldiers to arms.

[crown refers to king]
 The pen is mightier than the sword.
[pen refers to writer; sword refers to fighter]

Metonymy Type 4: Controller refers to controlled person/thing:

Usama bin Laden (UBL) attacked the World Trade

Center in New York.
[UBL refers to AlQaida forces]

Bill Gates is the king of operating systems worldwide

[Bill Gates refers to Microsoft]

Metonymy Type 5: Institution refers to person(s) in charge:

The Pentagon announced it's new policy yesterday.

[Pentagon refers to chiefs of staff at the Pentagon]

The White House called a press conference.

[White House refers to chiefs of staff at the White House]

Metonymy Type 6: Place refers to Institution (in the place):

Washington (D.C.) petitions Beijing.

[Washington refers to U.S. government; Beijing = Chinese government]

Houston defeats L.A.

[Houston refers to Houston Rockets; L.A. refers to L.A. Lakers]

Metonymy Type 7: Place refers to an Event (that occurred or occurs there):

Remember the Alamo!

 [Alamo refers to the battle at Alamo, Texas, USA]

Pearl Harbor was a sad event in America's History.

[Pearl Harbor refers to the battle at Pear Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941]

Two More types of Metonymy *** (added: Feb. 19, 2004):

Metonymy Type 8: Person in group refers to the whole group (similar to type 1)

Yao Ming defeated Shaquille O'Neal.

[Yao Ming refers to Houston Rockets; Shaquille O'Neal refers to L.A. Lakers]

Metonymy Type 9: Date refers to the event of that

date
Hopefully, 9/11 will never happen again.
[9/11 refers to the destruction of the World Trade Center Towers in New York on that day: 9/11/2001]

And the most important Metonymy you'll ever learn:

Greenhouse Effect

kind of metaphor: adjective metaphor

the real metaphor is hidden: Earth's polluted atmosphere is a Greenhouse

tenor: Earth's polluted atmosphere

vehicle: Greenhouse

common ground: Both make the environment warmer

You must take the bitter with the sweet.

Explanation of metaphor

There are actually 2 metaphors (above): bitter & sweet. They are what I call
"hidden" or "implicit" metaphors, because the tenors of the metaphors are not seen.
Only the vehicles of the metaphors are seen.

Metaphor #1: life is bitter (sometimes).

Metaphor #2: life is sweet (sometimes).

The tenor of each metaphor is life.

The vehicle in the first metaphor is bitter, while the vehicle in the second one is
sweet.

All metaphors are used (as I explain below) to increase understanding via
comparison. Hence, there must be a common ground between the tenor and the
vehicle.

In the first metaphor, we could say that the common ground is "unpleasant", as life
can be unpleasant sometimes and the sensation of bitterness is unpleasant.

In the second metaphor, we could say that the common ground is "pleasant", as life
can be pleasant sometimes and the sensation of sweetness is pleasant.

Thus, the meaning of the adage (above) is: We must understand and accept that life
is sometimes unpleasant, as well as pleasant.

(Sb) Be "out of one's mind".

Kind of Metaphor: adjective metaphor (yes, "out of one's mind" is a

prepositional phrase, but the phrase comes after the copula ("Be") making it
function as a predicate adjective.

Hidden 'nominative' Metaphor: mind is a domain

Tenor: mind

Vehicle: domain

Common Ground: both have limits

Meaning of the Metaphor: (Sb) be crazy.

The customer is king.

Kind of Metaphor: classic nominative metaphor

Hidden 'nominative' Metaphor: n/a

Tenor: customer

Vehicle: king

Common Ground: both order others

Meaning of the Metaphor: The customer is always right and can order the
host(ess).

Actions speak louder than words.

Kind of Metaphor: causative metaphor

Hidden 'nominative' Metaphors: Actions are persons. Words are persons.

{personification}

Tenor: actions / words

Vehicle: persons

Common Ground: actions, words, and persons all communicate

Meaning of the Metaphor: Actions are more important than words.

Two heads are better than one. {proverbial metonymy}

Kind of Metaphor: Actually it is NOT a metaphor; It is a metonymy.

Tenor: (if metonymies had tenors, it would be: "heads")

Vehicle: (if metonymies had vehicles, it would be: "people")

Common Ground: There is no common ground in a metonymy. The part

refers to the whole in this kind of metonymy. This particular kind of
metonymy is also called 'synecdoche'.

Meaning of the Metonymy: Two people are better than one.

To get under one's skin.

Kind of Metaphor: adjective metaphor (yes, I know; "under one's skin" is a

prepositional phrase, but the verb "get" here is functioning as a 'static' linking
verb (like "be") and the phrase that follows is functioning as a predicate
adjective.

Hidden 'nominative' Metaphor: skin is a protection of the mental

Tenor: skin

Vehicle: protection of the mental equilibrium

Common Ground: both protect

Meaning of the Metaphor: To become bothersome (to sb).

To get under one's skin means that sb has penetrated one's mental protection and has
become bothersome.

(Sb) be a demi-god (demigoddess).

Kind of Metaphor: classic nominative metaphor

Hidden 'nominative' Metaphor: n/a

Tenor: somebody

Vehicle: demi-god(dess)

Common Ground: both exhibit superhuman qualities (or seemingly

superhuman qualities)

Meaning of the Metaphor: Sb is superhuman.

Examples:

Michael Jackson is a demigod in the music world.

Demi More is a demigoddess on the screen.

(Sb) be a ten.

Kind of Metaphor: classic nominative metaphor

Hidden 'nominative' Metaphor: n/a

Tenor: somebody

Vehicle: ten

Common Ground: both are best (10 is highest on the rating scale).

Meaning of the Metaphor: To be a ten is essentially to be perfect.

Examples in Dialogue:

In the English-speaking communities, we tend to use a scale of 1 to 10 for rating

things. Therefore, to be a ten, means: to be perfect. Sample sentences:

1. Dialogue:

A: How is your new girlfriend?

B: She's fine.

A: No, I mean how IS she?

B: Oh, she is a perfect ten!

A: No kidding?

B: Yeah.... great body, great personality, great sense of humor.

2. Dialogue:

A: How was the movie?

B: It was a ten! You should see it.

(Sb) be down or (Sb) feel down

Kind of Metaphor: adjective metaphor / orientational metaphor

Hidden 'nominative' Metaphor: down is badness (orientational metaphor)

Tenor: down

Vehicle: badness

Common Ground: not sure; culturally we think of "down" as bad, "up" as

good. If I had to guess, I'd say it is because down is associated with low and
low is associated with low scores, low ratings, low levels, all of which are
generally considered bad.

Meaning of the Metaphor: Sb feel(s) bad.

The circle of life

Kind of Metaphor: nominative metaphor

Hidden 'nominative' Metaphor: life is a circle

Tenor: life

Vehicle: circle

Common Ground: both life and a circle are like cycles

Meaning of the Metaphor: life is a cycle

Explanation:

The circle of life is sometimes called the cycle of life. The events of being born and
dying recur over and over again. That is the cycle of life.
Amazon.com Widgets
Metaphors with the word "Run":

1. running water

2. water runs down my chin.

Kind of Metaphor: causative metaphor

Hidden 'nominative' Metaphor: water is a person (with legs that can run)

Tenor: water

Vehicle: person

Common Ground: both water and people travel

Meaning of the Metaphors:

1. running water = traveling water

2. water runs = water travels/moves

Another example:

3. Do you have running water in your house?

NEXT...

running total

Kind of Metaphor: present-participle-adjective metaphor

Hidden 'nominative' Metaphor: a total is a person (with legs that can run)

Tenor: total

Vehicle: person

Common Ground: both totals and people change

Meaning of the Metaphor: a running total is a current total (not the final total)
(Sb) bear(s) one's cross

Pre-explanation:

Approximately 2000 years ago, when the man named Jeshua (Jesus) bar Joseph of
Nazareth was to be crucified, he was forced to carry (bear) his own cross to his own
crucifixion site.

Kind of Metaphor: nominative metaphor, extended into a causative metaphor

Hidden 'nominative' Metaphor: a cross is a problem

Tenor: cross

Vehicle: problem

Common Ground: both a cross and a problem are hard to endure

Meaning of the Metaphor: to bear one's (own) cross, means to endure one's
(own) problem (usually a very serious problem)

Example:

Everyday for three months I had to bear the cross of my wife leaving me and our
son. I had no mental support from my family. I had no financial support from my
family. I had no emotional support from my family. I felt so utterly alone and
depressed by the weight of the cross which I had to bear; and yet, I crucified
myself...

having a monkey on one's back

Kind of Metaphor: nominative metaphor, extended into a causative metaphor

Hidden 'nominative' Metaphor: a problem that just won't go away is a

monkey on one's back

Tenor: a problem that just won't go away

Vehicle: a monkey on one's back

Common Ground: both a monkey on one's back and a problem that just won't
go away are annoying
(Sb) has/experiences blue skies / gray skies

Kind of Metaphor: nominative metaphor, extended into a causative metaphor

Hidden 'nominative' Metaphor: joy is blue skies / melancholy is gray skies

Tenor: joy / melancholy

Vehicle: blue skies / gray skies

Common Ground: blue skies denotes sunny skies and the sun is associated
with positive feelings, while gray skies denote rain-cloud-induced darkness and
both rain and darkness are associated with negative feelings.

Examples:

There are only blue skies in their life right now, because they just got married, but it
is only a matter of time before the gray skies come.

A stitch in time saves nine

Kind of Figure of Speech: NOT A METAPHOR; It is a METONYMOUS

ADAGE

Hidden Metonymy: a stitch represents all kinds of materials used for repairs

Tenor: a single stitch

Vehicle: all materials for repairing things

Common Ground: n/a

Meaning of the Metonymy: If repairs are effected in a timely manner, one

actually saves (conserves) materials.

bridge metaphors

bridge over troubled water = solution to a problem

let's cross that bridge when we come to it = let's deal with that problem when is
arises.

it's water under the bridge = it's history

bridge (v.) = make a connection

tree metaphors

family tree = one's genealogy and relatives

He has deep roots here. (roots = ancestors)

A man with no roots, is not a man for me. (roots = prominent ancestors)

a branch of sth = a part / section of sth

The ramifications of sth (rama = branch in latin) = the aspects of sth abstract

EXTENDED METAPHOR: lemon tree is sadness. (extended from lemon is

sadness)

Adage: When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade.

water metaphors

The fountain of youth. (tonic of rejuvenation and eternal youth)

An ocean of ideas. (many ideas)

He is a river of ideas. (his ideas just keep coming)

ideas = food

Examples:

raw facts

half-baked ideas

warmed-over theories

That's a fishy story.

It's food for thought.

Let's let that idea percolate for a while.

Let's let that idea simmer on the back burner for a while.

That idea has been fermenting for year.

This is the meaty part of the paper.

cognition = eating

Examples:

That information is hard to swallow.

I couldn't quite digest your lecture.

All that heard the choir were edified.

I'm still chewing on your words from last night.

You are full of shit! (caution: VERY VULGAR!)

That's bull shit! (caution: VERY VULGAR!)

I regurgitated everything that I learned for the test.

Don't make me throw up.

It's food for thought.

He has a voracious appetite for science fiction.

Some teachers spoon-feed their students.

I devoured that book.

(Sb) see(s) the world through rose-colored glasses

Kind of Metaphor: nominative metaphor, extended into a causative metaphor

Hidden 'nominative' Metaphor: positive mental perspective = rose-colored

glasses

Tenor: positive mental perspective

Vehicle: rose-colored glasses

Common Ground: both a positive mental perspective and roses are considered
to be GOOD

Meaning of the Metaphor: see explanation below

Explanation:

The metaphor means that the person wearing the rose-colored glasses perceives the
world to be a wonderful place. That's why we say, "rose-colored." Yet the fact that
the person is wearing lenses means that the person's perception is not 100%
realistic. In fact, the person is usually blind to the bad things in the world. Why?
Because that person's life is quite good at that time.

He sees the world through rose-colored glasses.

{ => He has a good out-look on life. }

I made my own metaphor in contrast to the one above as a kind of extended

metaphor.

"see the world through lilac-colored glasses"

Lilacs are flowers, which are of a blue-violet color. It employs another metaphor is
English: I am blue, which means: I am sad and/or depressed.

Please see my poem: Lilac-colored glasses.

Learn more about EXTENDED METAPHORS

heart = the container of one's emotions

Examples:

I love you with all my heart.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart. (I deeply thank you, with all the
contents of my heart).

You broke my heart. (You broke the container of my good emotions and all the
contents have spilled out.)

You are a heartless jerk! (insult; "jerk" is slang, check out the slang page)

Eat your heart out! (You may be envious.)

Have a heart, please. (Please be generous/merciful.)

I gave you my heart. (I gave you my love.)

Lionhearted (a.) = very generous/merciful

head = most important, #1, top

Examples:

He is the head of this department.

The headlines are at the top of the article.

She is the head coach of the basketball team.

The captain is the head of the ship.

The capital is the head city of a country.

George W. Bush is the head of state.

carte blanche (< French: "blank card", i.e "blank check")

Kind of Metaphor: nominative metaphor

Hidden 'nominative' Metaphor: total delegated authority is carte blanche

Tenor: total delegated authority

Vehicle: carte blanche

Common Ground: both

Meaning of the Metaphor: see explanation below

Explanation:

A long time ago in France (and maybe England), if a rich man or a nobleman gave
you a blank card (blank check) you were able to fill it in with whatever amount you
wanted/needed and use the funds for whatever purpose previously agreed to

SAMPLE SENTENCE: He was given carte blanche to run the company.

We have another expression in English which is very similar:

One can write his/her own ticket.

in/on is right/good, out/off is wrong/bad

Examples:

Get out. (You must be wrong... I don't believe you.)

You are in. (You are popular.)

You are way off base. (You are very wrong.)

You are right on! (You are exactly correct.)

You hit the nail on the head. (You are exactly correct.)

He is off his rocker. (He is crazy.)

He is out of his mind. (He is crazy.)

She is in tune with life. (She is astute/sensitive to life.)

She is right on track. (She is going in the right direction.)

She is off track. (She is going in the wrong direction.)

Her argument has been derailed. (Her argument has been proven wrong.)

I'm in the groove. (I'm in a good mood, because my situation is good.)

He is out in left field. (He is out of the right, and in the wrong.)

The price is in the ballpark of my price range. [near, almost right]

***He's in the doghouse. ***(He has done something wrong and his
wife/girlfriend is punishing him.) This seems contrary to the metaphor (above), but
it is not, because "in the doghouse" means "outside the house."

He is out to lunch. (He is temporarily insane.)

Life is a journey.

Examples:

Look at my life! So far so good.

On the road of life, there are many crossroads.

I took the path less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. (Frost)

Your journey through life will be much easier if you heed the road signs.

Put yourself in my shoes!

Life is a roller coaster ride.

I wanna go back home. (I want to die.)

Stop and smell the roses. (Stop working and enjoy life from time to time.)

We're at the end of the line. (We will die soon.)

We're lying (knocking) at death's door. (We will die soon.)

See you on the other side. (Life's journey doesn't end at death...)

When life bucks you off, you should get back on.

Take the reins of fate. (Take control of your life.)

If you don't ride life, she will ride you. (same as above)
Relationships are a journey.

Examples:

Our relationship....so far so good.

Our relationship is a dead-end street.

Our relationship has been a long, bumpy road.

Our marriage is on the rocks. (sea voyage)

Our love has gone off the tracks. (train trip)

In our relationship, we are just spinning our wheels. (car trip)

We are past the point of no return.

There's no turning back now.

I don't think this relationship is going anywhere.

We're at a crossroads.

Look how far we've come, baby.

Love is War.

Examples:

She captured my heart.

You stole my heart.

He broke my heart.

You hurt me.

There is a fortress around your heart. (Sting)

You broke down my defenses.

I'm a prisoner of your love.

Let me go! i.e., Release me, and let me love again. (Elvis Presley)

What's your strategy to make her love you?

She shot me down.

I'll take a shot at love.

I surrendered my heart to her.

Life is a game.

Examples:

You win some and you lose some.

(meaning: sometimes you have success in life, and sometimes you don't.)

There are two kinds of people in this world: winners and losers.

(meaning: There are successful people and unsuccessful people.)

Three strikes and you're out!

(meaning: You only get three chances in life.)

It's not whether you win or lose that matters, it's how you play the game.

(meaning: Living honestly (no cheating) is the best way to live.)

Don't run faster than you have strength.

(meaning: Don't try to do more than you can do.)

In the game of life, there's no reset button.

(meaning: You only live once, so make the best of it.)

Game over.

(meaning: death.)

Time is money.

Examples:

How do you spend your time?

My time is valuable.

Don't waist my time.

If you give me some of your time, I'll pay you back with some of my time.

The criminal spent twenty years in jail. He paid his debt to society.
I could go one ad infinitum. Lakoff and Johnson, 1980, estimate that as much as
70% of the English language is metaphorical. I personally would estimate it higher,
because much of the Latinate words that we use in English are actually
institutionalized metaphors.

What are institutionalized metaphors?

They are metaphors that have become so commonly used that the actual, literal
meaning has become lost over time, and only the figurative meaning is commonly
known.

One example of an institutionalized metaphor is: kid (child = kid).

Originally, a kid was a baby goat.

Nowadays, we hardly ever use the original meaning of the word kid, but kid as a
human child is used very frequently.

Interestingly, those who know the original meaning of kid, often take offense to
having their children called, "kids".

But, kid is not a Latinate word. I'd like to give you an example of a Latinate word
that is metaphorical:

Decide.

Yes. The word decide is composed of two morphemes: de (down) + cide (cut).

Decide comes from Latin. Therefore it is a Latinate word. It means "cut down".

Kind of Metaphor: institutionalized causative metaphor

Hidden 'nominative' Metaphor: choices are things that can be cut

Tenor: choices

Vehicle: things that can be cut

Common Ground: both can be selected

Meaning of the Metaphor: 'cut down' or 'decide' means to select one of the
apparent choices.
 A Long List of Some Common

Metaphors
Written, complied by, and brought to you by Leon of Leon's EFL Planet, 2001-2008

IMPORTANT NOTE:
These are North American Metaphors, and more specifically U.S. Metaphors; Please
be aware that there may be regional differences. Where those differences are know,
they shall be elucidated.

vegetable metaphors meaning

a quadriplegic, or a person who is

a vegetable
comatose

a person who sits on the couch and eats

a couch potato
potato chips all day long

an ear of corn one 'stick' of corn

a head of lettuce one lettuce plant

a carrot (as to dangle a carrot in front of a

a reward to aim for
horse)

fruit metaphors meaning

big banana (not polite) boss (not polite)

a machine that breaks down shortly after

lemon
purchase

a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't
a pickle
situation

pumpkin term of endearment to a cute child

The Big Apple New York

The apple of my eye my most cherished person

sour grapes envy

lemon a car that breaks down frequently

lemon (When life hands you a lemon,

sadness
make lemonade).

melon head

nuts testicles

peach pretty girl

peachy fine, okay

crabapple bitter person

animal metaphors meaning

fox beautiful woman [foxy = beautiful]

chicken scared/frightened person

human female, usually between the ages

of 16 and 25, i.e., old enough to date and
nubile. [NOTE: From my experience,
chick
this term is offensive to Canadian
women, but NOT offensive to U.S.
women.]

dirty person [in the U.K. a pig would be

pig
a greedy person].

sloth lazy person

dog (more dog metaphors) bad man, ugly woman

rat tattler

snake / serpent cunning person

whale very fat person

cow reasonably fat person

ox big, strong man

moose big, athletic person (usually male)

owl night person

wolf aggressive person (bad meaning)

tiger aggressive person (good meaning)

bottom dweller scavenger, freeloader

sheepish embarrassed

mouse timid, shy

turtle physically slow person

snail physically very slow person

penis (I include this because I've met

some non-native English speakers
cock (vulgar usage)
who've pronounced Coke as cock, and it
was very embarrassing).

ham a show-off

hog greedy person

lionhearted generous

clam up (phrasal verb) close one's mouth and refuse to talk

bookworm person who likes to read a lot

cuckoo crazy (a.)

dodo dummy / idiot

stick your head down like a duck fishing

duck (v.i.)
in a pond/lake.

shark hustler

weasel avoider

weasel out of (doing sth) use cunning to avoid some responsibility

shrew nagger, complainer (esp, about a woman)

urchin trouble-maker (esp. used for children)

skunk disliked person (왕따)

worm lowest, most-hated person (상놈,녀)

kid human child

dinosaur (derogatory) very old person

yellow-bellied lizard coward

turkey dummy / idiot

shrimp small person

dog metaphorical idioms/proverbs &

meaning
dog similes

There are plenty of people in the world

It's a dog-eat-dog world. who will take advantage of you, if given
the chance.

I'm dog-tired. I'm really tired.

work like a dog. work really hard.

sick as a dog. really, very sick.

in the doghouse out of one's good graces

relieve one's stress or anger, by hurting

go home and kick the dog
an innocent party

Let sleeping dogs lie. Let bygones be bygones.

dog one's trail (verb phrase) follow (sb)

top dog best person (at doing sth)

underdog the weaker party in a competition

dog-eared pages pages with one corner folded down

1.wiener/frank/sausage link on a bun

hotdog
2.a show-off

a wiener/frank/sausage link covered with

corndog
corn bread

Dog gone it! (not bad) [instead of] God damn it! (not nice)

Metaphorical Proverbs meaning

Time is money. Time is a precious/valuable thing.

The customer is king. The salesperson should treat the

 customer like a king.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Noisy people get attention.

One bad person in a group can have a

One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel.
bad effect on the whole group.

Suck the marrow out of life. Enjoy life to the fullest.

Life sucks. Life is hard to endure.

Seize the day. Take the opportunities each day.

Don't bite off more than you can chew. Don't try to do more than you can do.

Colorful Metaphors

Color Metaphor Meaning Example of Usage

Jamie saw red when she
1. to see red = to be angry learned that her bicycle was
stolen.

2. to be in the red = to be in financial danger That huge firm is in the red.

RED When I learned that the job

applicant had been in rehab,
3. red flag = perceived danger
a red flag went up in my
mind.

royal treatment; treat like They rolled out the red

4. red carpet=
royalty carpet for us.

Don't be yellow! Come out

1. to be yellow = to be cowardly
and fight like a man!
ORIGIN of this Metaphor
YELLOW
You yellow belly! Why
2. yellow belly a coward don't you come out and
fight?

GREEN Johnny is green. It will take

1. to be green = to be new at something a while for him to learn the
ropes.

2. greenie = a novice; a neophyte Johnny is a greenie. Give

him a break. He's bound to
 make a few mistakes.

Jerold has a green thumb.

3. green thumb = skill at growing plants Every plant in his garden
and home is thriving.

Suzy gave him the green

4. green light = permission light to go ahead with the
project.

BLUE I am blue about losing the

1. to be blue = to be sad
election.

Samuel saw blue skies in his

2. blue skies = happiness
future on his wedding day.

Samuel never used to listen

3. the blues = sad songs
to the blues.

Two years after the

being sad, being
4. singing the blues = wedding, Samuel is singing
melancholy
the blues.

WHITE No one is lily white,

1. lily white = innocent; pure
except infants.

He was embarrassed to
a pimple with a white top
show his face in school
[this is a metonymy
2. white head = because overnight he
(white), mixed with a
developed two white
metaphor (head)]
heads on his face.

The good witch of the

3. white magic = righteous magic East practices white
magic.

He's singing the blues

GRAY 1. Gray skies = sadness; and seeing only gray
skies.

BLACK 1. black = tainted, impure, wicked His heart is black.

The black-hearted man

2. black-hearted = wicked
kills animals for fun.

The huge firm rebounded

to be out of financial in the second quarter of
3. to be in the black =
danger the year and now is in the
black.

The wicked witch of the

4. black magic = wicked magic west practices black
magic.
 Colorful Metonymies & Similes
Example in
Lexical Item Classification Meaning
Context

The color green Eat lots of greens

refers to the each day and you
Greens metonymy
vegetables will keep the
(which are green) doctor away.

Green refers to John was green

the color of the with envy when
to be green with
metonymy face when the he saw his ex-
envy
person thereof is girlfriend with his
envious. ex-best friend.

She was as white

As white as the as the driven
simile pure
driven snow snow until she
turned 16.

The whities are in

Caucasians
Whities metonymy the wrong
(white people)
neighborhood.

ORIGIN OF "YELLOW" / "YELLOW-BELLY" as metaphors

It is the educated opinion of this author that the origin of this colorful metaphor
has nothing to do with skin color. It comes from the metaphor: yellowbelly.
Originally, a yellowbelly is a kind of lizard with a yellow belly indigenous to the
Western U.S.A.. The metaphorical meaning is a coward. The common
ground between (1) a cowardly person and (2) a yellowbelly lizard is:

...they both run away to avoid a confrontation with someone or something

bigger than they

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