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Is there a special term to describe idioms such as "lie like a rug"? This is a cliche that employs a double meaning for "lie" and the "like a rug" has nothing to do with "you lie".
A similar, but more complex example, may be "time flies like a banana".
Last edited by Rindahl; 29-Mar-2008 at 15:47.
Reason: added a comma
It is not quite clear what you are after, but possibly you are looking for the term "trope" = a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is used in other than a literal manner.
Thank you, Anglika. Truth to tell, I'm not sure what I'm looking for; the question didn't originate with me. I'm not sure 'trope' would fit because 'lie' is used in a literal sense -- two literal senses -- but the uses are not logically related to each other.
This is a fairly common construction in English and, when the question was presented to me, I thought there must be an answer. Perhaps there isn't.
Actually, rugs don't lay, they lie. I understand what a pun is. In this case, we have two words which are homophones (and also happen to be homographs, but that isn't really important) that join two phrases that have no logical connection.
you lie / lie like a rug
How does a rug lie? It lies flat. This is logically unrelated to someone who tells lies. So I was trying to find out if there is a specific term for this kind of construction.
special term for "lie like a rug" 
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