Burlesque metaphor

Burlesque metaphor is an amusing, overstated or grotesque comparison or examplification.^[1]

Examples

Eat your own dog food.

— An American proverb which means that you should consume your own product to recognize its flaws.

If they are offered winged ants, people will eat them.

— African proverb^[2]

There is an elephant in the room.

— An American idiom meaning that there is a sensitive issue no one brings up.

References

1. Richard Milne Hogg; N. Norman Francis Blake; John Algeo; Roger Lass; Robert W. Burchfield (7 February 2001). The Cambridge History of the English Language. Cambridge University Press. p. 613–. ISBN 978-0-521-26479-2. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
2. Martin H. Manser (2007). The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs. Infobase Publishing. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-8160-6673-5. Retrieved 15 June 2013.

See also

• Figure of speech