--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...a metaphor that works in one society…" description: "\"...a metaphor that works in one society may seem preposterous in another.\" — Max Black" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c9/max-black-50226_may_a-metaphor-that-works-in-one-society-may_2492756.jpg" --- # ...a metaphor that works in one society may seem… ![“...a metaphor that works in one society may seem preposterous in another.” quote by Max Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c9/max-black-50226_may_a-metaphor-that-works-in-one-society-may_2492756.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c9/max-black-50226_may_a-metaphor-that-works-in-one-society-may_2492756.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c9/max-black-50226_may_a-metaphor-that-works-in-one-society-may_2492756.jpg) > “...a metaphor that works in one society may seem preposterous in another.” [Max Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-black/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Metaphors that work in one culture may seem absurd in another. **In simple terms:** Cultural context shapes metaphor meaning. Key Takeaway Adapt communication to cultural differences. Themes culture language interpretation relativism Mood analytical thoughtful Type linguistic educational When to use this quote - marketing - education - international diplomacy Key Concepts semiotics cross‑cultural communication cognitive framing Questions to Reflect On - How do we test metaphor relevance across cultures? - What strategies help translate ideas effectively? A Different Perspective Assuming universality can cause misunderstandings. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Metaphor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphor/) [Metaphor Works](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphor-works-980951/) [Preposterous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preposterous/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) [Society Preposterous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-preposterous-980950/) ## Related quotes > [Society never made the preposterous demand that a man should think as much about his own qualifications for making a charming girl happy as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/society-never-made-the-preposterous-demand-that-a-man-should-think-as/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [If we don't understand how metaphor works we will misunderstand most of what we read in the Bible. No matter how carefully we parse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-h-peterson/if-we-don-t-understand-how-metaphor-works-we-will-misunderstand-most/) [Eugene H. Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-h-peterson/) > [“one thing that I realized early on in thinking about this book, when I found, to my consternation, that I was writing a fantasy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/one-thing-that-i-realized-early-on-in-thinking-about-this-book-when-i/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“Society never made the preposterous demand that a man should think as much about his own qualifications for making a charming girl happy as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/society-never-made-the-preposterous-demand-that-a-man-should-think-as-2/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Society never made the preposterous demand that a man should think as much about his own qualifications for making a charming girl happy as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/society-never-made-the-preposterous-demand-that-a-man-should-think-as-3/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [What I got in Sunday school ... was simply a firm conviction that the Christian faith was full of palpable absurdities, and the Christian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/what-i-got-in-sunday-school-was-simply-a-firm-conviction-that-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Horror, let's face it, is basically pretty dumb. You're writing about events that are preposterous, and the trick is to dress them up in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/horror-let-s-face-it-is-basically-pretty-dumb-you-re-writing-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Preposterous ass, that never read so far to know the cause why music was ordain'd! 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If any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-albini/you-see-something-happen-to-a-population-whereby-everyone-adopts/) [Steve Albini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-albini/) > [No writer in a free country should be expected to bother about the exact demarcation between the sensuous and the sensual; this is preposterous;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/no-writer-in-a-free-country-should-be-expected-to-bother-about-the/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [Sleep with Seth Mortensen? Good grief. It was the most preposterous thing I'd ever heard. It was appalling. If I absorbed his life force,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/sleep-with-seth-mortensen-good-grief-it-was-the-most-preposterous/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [I wanted to be president of the United States. I really did. The older I get, the less preposterous the idea seems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alec-baldwin/i-wanted-to-be-president-of-the-united-states-i-really-did-the-older/) [Alec Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alec-baldwin/) ## More by Max Black > [... a result once generally accepted by mathematicians is seldom retracted, and then only with great pangs. The Nature of Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-black/a-result-once-generally-accepted-by-mathematicians-is-seldom/) [Max Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-black/) > [No doubt metaphors are dangerous- and perhaps especially so in philosophy. But a prohibition against their use would be a willful and harmful restriction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-black/no-doubt-metaphors-are-dangerous-and-perhaps-especially-so-in/) [Max Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-black/) > [Fine doesn't mean fine! The scale goes: great, good, okay, not okay, I hate you, fine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-black/fine-doesn-t-mean-fine-the-scale-goes-great-good-okay-not-okay-i-hate/) [Max Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-black/) > [Understanding a metaphor is like deciphering a code or unraveling a riddle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-black/understanding-a-metaphor-is-like-deciphering-a-code-or-unraveling-a/) [Max Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-black/) > [We find out soon enough that the universe is not capricious: the child who learns that fire burns and knife-edges cut know that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-black/we-find-out-soon-enough-that-the-universe-is-not-capricious-the-child/) [Max Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-black/) > [... I still wish to contend that some metaphors enable us to see aspects of reality that the metaphor's production helps to constitute. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-black/i-still-wish-to-contend-that-some-metaphors-enable-us-to-see-aspects/) [Max Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-black/) [Explore all 7 Max Black quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-black/) ## More May quotes > [There is something more important than any ultimate weapon. That is the ultimate position-the position of total control over Earth that lies somewhere out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/there-is-something-more-important-than-any-ultimate-weapon-that-is/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [You've touched people and known it. You've touched people and never may know it. Either way, you have something to give. It is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-schlessinger/you-ve-touched-people-and-known-it-you-ve-touched-people-and-never/) [Laura Schlessinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-schlessinger/) > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. 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But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am convinced that we will never build a democratic state based on rule of law if we do not at the same time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/i-am-convinced-that-we-will-never-build-a-democratic-state-based-on/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [Set NOT your hearts on the flowers of this world. They shall fade and die. Prize the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/set-not-your-hearts-on-the-flowers-of-this-world-they-shall-fade-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The market may never coalesce around one basic design, or even around two or three dominant devices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/the-market-may-never-coalesce-around-one-basic-design-or-even-around/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [Hard times may test me, they cannot destroy me,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-b-joshua/hard-times-may-test-me-they-cannot-destroy-me/) [T. B. Joshua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-b-joshua/) [Browse all 33,019 May quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "...a metaphor that works in one society may seem preposterous in another.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Max Black" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-black/a-metaphor-that-works-in-one-society-may-seem-preposterous-in-another/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "May" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-black/a-metaphor-that-works-in-one-society-may-seem-preposterous-in-another/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c9/max-black-50226_may_a-metaphor-that-works-in-one-society-may_2492756.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c9/max-black-50226_may_a-metaphor-that-works-in-one-society-may_2492756.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c9/max-black-50226_may_a-metaphor-that-works-in-one-society-may_2492756.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“...a metaphor that works in one society may seem preposterous in another.” — Max Black", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Max Black", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-black/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "...a metaphor that works in one...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-black/a-metaphor-that-works-in-one-society-may-seem-preposterous-in-another/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-black/a-metaphor-that-works-in-one-society-may-seem-preposterous-in-another/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```