Does using animal in your metaphor make one sound like a kid?

LeTyan said:

Hi,

I was watching a interview. All of sudden, the hostess said something was like a dinosaur(I can't remember exactly what it was. It was like a product that's no longer popular and it's dying out or something like that). So I was like, what? Are you a kid? Why do you have to use an animal in your metaphor? Adults don't usually talk like that unless they are talking to kids.
I understand the content in my question is highly subjective. So I would like to know what you guys think.

Thank you!

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Grumpy said:

If something is said to be "like" a dinosaur, then that is actually a simile; not a metaphor.
In the UK, this particular simile/metaphor is used extensively by adults, including politicians, writers and broadcasters, to indicate an individual or organisation which is out of date with modern trends or affairs. The use of animal-related metaphors is certainly not confined to communicating with children: one hears of "old bulls", "wounded elephants", and "press hyenas" all the time.

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LeTyan said:

Hi,
So I was like, what? Are you a kid? Why do you have to use animal in your metaphor? Adults don't usually talk like that unless they are talking to kid.

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Raymott said:

I guess you know that 'kid' is an animal metaphor.

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LeTyan said:

Haha! Oh yes most definitely! When I am eating at a resturant, kids just keep running around like unleashed dogs, endangering all the servers like hell!

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LeTyan said:

Adults don't usually talk like that unless they are talking to kid.

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LeTyan said:

Thanks Grumpy! That's definitely some new knowledge I learned today. We also have animal-related idioms in Chinese that are widely used as well. But in Chinese we barely say something or someone is "like" a certain type of animal. So I guess it's the cultural difference that made things hard for me to fathom.
Just to check, you mean people do use the word "dinosaur" to indicate an individual or organisation which is out of date with modern trends or affairs. Am I right?

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