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Subject:Re: Mixing metaphors? From:Janice Gelb <Janice -dot- Gelb -at- Sun -dot- COM> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Fri, 29 Jan 2010 08:48:35 +1100
On Jan 29, 2010 8:32AM, Deborah Hemstreet wrote:
> Wow, a lot of food for thought...
>
> Well, here is the context:
>
> However, increased XXX capacity can be a two-edged sword. On one hand,
> it significantly enables lower cost functionality. But on the other
> hand, the increasing complexity and cost of XXX designs has prevented
> many vendors from using, or taking full advantage of, the capabilities
> of XXX.
>
> MUDDIER and muddier, one hand is good, the other is bad... and if I CUT
> you with a two-edged sword you are more seriously wounded than with a
> single-edged sword...
>
I must admit that I'm a little surprised that
more people haven't heard of this metaphor,
which I otherwise would have thought was fairly
common. The usage is accurate here: the meaning
of the metaphor as I've always heard it is that
a two-edged sword has the potential of cutting
both the target and the wielder of the sword.
I'd have ordinarily said to leave it: the meaning
of the metaphor is actually correct in context and,
as someone else said, the one hand/other hand usage
is so common that readers aren't likely to perceive
it as continuing the sword metaphor. However, as
a few people don't seem to be familiar with the
metaphor, if it really bothers you, you might
consider changing this to:
"However, increased XXX capacity has both
benefits and drawbacks. On one hand..."
If you want to substitute one metaphor for
another, you could use instead "a mixed
blessing" :->
-- Janice
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