Conventions of Composition Rule 189

Rule: You can't start a metaphor with one kind of comparison and switch to another kind. This error is called a mixed metaphor.

Examples:

Wrong: She's in over her head; she better nip that problem in the bud.

Better: She's in over her head; she needs to learn to float or swim.

Also better: The situation will grow worse if she's not careful; she better nip that problem in the bud.

Practice unifying these mixed metaphors:

1. The plan fell to pieces, so they had to punt.

2. "I don’t think we should wait until the other shoe drops. History has already shown what is likely to happen. The ball has been down this court before and I can see already the light at the end of the tunnel."

-(Detroit News, quoted in The New Yorker, November 26, 2012)

3. "We'll have a lot of new blood holding gavels in Washington."

-(Georgia Congressman Jack Kingston, quoted in the Savannah Morning News, November 3, 2010)

Resources for further explanations of mixed metaphors:

Thoughtco's What Are Mixed Metaphors?

Info Please's Common Usage Dilemmas: Mixed Metaphors: A Dollar Late and a Day Short

Jim Carlton's More than a Handful from Jim Carlton