When does a metaphor cease to be a metaphor and becomes intimately associated with the true meaning of the concept? Well it happens when such metaphor is used so frequently that it displaces the original term used to express the thought. For example when we say “his campaign is having a noticeable impact on the Latino vote”, do you really still think of "impact" in that sense as a metaphor for effect? It seems to me that some usages pass from being metaphors to being alternative senses. If your attitude is "once a metaphor, always a metaphor", and you want to avoid mixing metaphors, then you'd have to needlessly restrict your usage of words you'd regard as metaphors. Take for example "the social impact will be very high". High? Surely not. Severe; yes. That is unless we no longer think of impact as metaphor. Another popular example, you'd lose "to exceed (or beat) a target" if for you the only true sense of "target" is that arrangement of colored rings that archers aim at, because "exceeding" it presumably means overshooting it, which is not the desired effect, and "beating" it presumably means striking it, which is rather a silly thing to do.
Alex, racing the clock to beat the deadlines and getting a head spin doing it..
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