ABSTRACT
Nominal metaphors (figurative statements of the form X is Y) can often be restated as similes (figurative statements of the form X is like Y). Thus, one can say both Time is a river and Time is like a river. This grammatical alternation is often assumed to be arbitrary, with metaphors and their simile counterparts being synonymous. (Indeed, metaphors are traditionally defined as elliptical similes.) However, a handful of studies have suggested that the two forms may in fact not be equivalent. For example, Gibb and Wales (1990) found that similes are preferred over metaphors for figurative statements with concrete predicates, and Reynolds and Ortony (1980) found that simile comprehension developmentally precedes metaphor comprehension.
