Full Idea
Metaphors mean what the words, in their most literal interpretation, mean, and nothing more.
Gist of Idea
Metaphors just mean what their words literally mean
Source
Donald Davidson (What Metaphors Mean [1978], p.30)
Book Reference
'On Metaphor', ed/tr. Sacks,Sheldon [Chicago 1981], p.30
A Reaction
This pronouncement must be the result of Davidson anguishing over the truth conditions for metaphors, which are usually either taken to have a 'metaphorical meaning', or to be abbreviated similes. He solved his problem at a stroke! Plausible.