ABSTRACT

Some time ago a cartoon was published that has over time morphed into a metaphor. Th e cartoon shows two men talking in what is obviously a bathroom while behind them is a bathtub from which four horse feet are projecting. Th e one man is saying to the other “What dead horse in the bathtub?” Th e question has of course become a metaphor for ignoring the obvious by attempting to focus on something else. Hold the metaphor, I will return to it in a moment.