LessonsFamiliar and Remote Simile: Detail, Conditional Resemblance, and Rhetorical AcceptanceQuiz

وإما بعيد غريب
The other class is the remote or unusual simile.

In this type, the hearer does not move immediately from subject to comparison term. The connection requires reflection and careful scrutiny, perhaps because the common respect is concealed, because a distinctive condition has been added, or because the image is rarely recalled.

“Unusual” is not equivalent to obscure vocabulary. All the words may be familiar while the proposed resemblance remains subtle. The rhetorical classification concerns the inferred relationship, not the lexical difficulty alone.

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The core idea of a remote simile

Familiar and Remote Simile: Detail, Conditional Resemblance, and Rhetorical Acceptance

وإما بعيد غريب
The other class is the remote or unusual simile.

In this type, the hearer does not move immediately from subject to comparison term. The connection requires reflection and careful scrutiny, perhaps because the common respect is concealed, because a distinctive condition has been added, or because the image is rarely recalled.

“Unusual” is not equivalent to obscure vocabulary. All the words may be familiar while the proposed resemblance remains subtle. The rhetorical classification concerns the inferred relationship, not the lexical difficulty alone.