: a figure of speech combining inconsistent or incongruous metaphors
Examples of mixed metaphor in a Sentence
“If we want to get ahead we'll have to iron out the remaining bottlenecks” is an example of a mixed metaphor.
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Editors who prioritize style are already hunting drafts for the type of muddy turns of phrase and mixed metaphors that LLMs are known to deploy.—
Jasmine Vojdani,
Vulture,
3 June 2026 Have fun with the paper and with the mixed metaphors.—Literary Hub,
20 May 2026 Cats, however, may turn out to be the canaries in the coalmines — pardon the mixed metaphor.—
Jan Ellen Spiegel,
Hartford Courant,
24 Dec. 2024 Excuse the mixed metaphor, but the Viper feels like a great white shark on the road.—WSJ,
3 Dec. 2022 Due to author error a mixed metaphor was labelled as a pun in an earlier version of this post.—IEEE Spectrum,
21 Apr. 2021