Word count: 206 words
Reading time: Less than 1 minute
I read widely, watch movies and listen to the radio. In today’s post you’ll see an interesting piece of figurative language I’ve encountered recently from writer John Seabrook.
I lost touch with popular music in about, oh, 1982. Yes, I have become my parents. That said, I do listen to recommendations from my own teenage children so I am familiar with Patrick Watson, Mumford and Sons and Dan Magnan. I even saw Dan Magnan at the 2010 Vancouver Folk Music Festival.
But before reading the Dec. 3, 2012 New Yorker, I’d never heard of Aimee Mann. (Listen to a few bars (about 30 seconds) of Disappeared to discern her vibe.) I like her voice and may even buy one of her songs for my iPhone. But here’s the line about her, written by John Seabrook, that caught my attention.
Mann is tall and slender and angular – you could cut yourself on her collarbones.
Doesn’t that perfectly capture the sight of someone who is cachectically thin? I like the humour of this comment. Of course it’s a hyperbole — used to create an impression and not meant to be taken literally. But it’s an image I’ll not soon forget.
