Mixed metaphors : their use and abuse Writing guides teach us to avoid mixed metaphors like that wet blanket is a loose cannon and suggest that we should limit ourselves to one metaphor per paragraph. But clearly this is terrible advice. The Tomorrow tomorrow and tomorrow speech in Macbeth packs six metaphors into a few lines and is considered a literary masterpiece. Scientific descriptions of light and matter necessarily include conflicting metaphors because we dont have a perfect metaphor for these concepts. Whilst its true that mixed metaphors can sound ignorant or confusing what we really need is a more nuanced definition of mixed metaphors and a better system for identifying their benefits and drawbacks in different contexts. In Mixed Metaphors: Their Use and Abuse Karen Sullivan employs findings from linguistics and cognitive science to explore why some mixed metaphors are criticised but similar metaphors are praised. By using Conceptual Metaphor Theory she demonstrates how once we understand how metaphoric ideas are put together we can better appreciate the different ways that metaphors can be mixed and how audiences are likely to respond to these differences. By analysing over 100 metaphors from politicians sportspeople writers and other public figures Mixed Metaphors: Their Use and Abuse delineates how mixing occurs and identifies the characteristics that make mixed metaphors annoying amusing or astounding