Full Idea
The simile theory of metaphors makes them too easy to figure out, when they cannot be paraphrased in literal terms, …and it does not explain why we use metaphors as well as similes.
Gist of Idea
The simile view of metaphors removes their magic, and won't explain why we use them
Source
Ofra Magidor (Category Mistakes [2013], 3.5)
Book Reference
Magidor,Ofra: 'Category Mistakes' [OUP 2013], p.68
A Reaction
[She cites Davidson for these points] They might just be similes with the added frisson of leaving out 'like', so that they seem at first to be false, until you work out the simile and see their truth.
Related Idea
Idea 18024 One theory says metaphors mean the same as the corresponding simile [Magidor]