A question about the composition of puns and metaphors

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When writing, is it a good idea to use a metaphor that makes sense only as a pun? I want to write, "river of sticks" for the River Styx pun, but literally and figuratively, a "river of sticks" means nothing.

― Leee Majors (Leee), Sunday, 15 February 2004 18:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Pls. post full context of phrase -- is it funny?

― ModJ (ModJ), Sunday, 15 February 2004 18:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Nope, the protagonist is thinking about jumping in front of a subway, and I'm trying to envision the tracks as this river of sticks.

― Leee Majors (Leee), Sunday, 15 February 2004 18:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Too bad because I would have suggested that your metaphor is like a river of shtick :-)

― Sébastien Chikara (Sébastien Chikara), Sunday, 15 February 2004 18:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Oooooooooh shiiiiiiiitttttt

― ModJ (ModJ), Sunday, 15 February 2004 18:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Actually, it's OK, but a thinker -- coz to call subway parts "sticks" is a little thin...

― ModJ (ModJ), Sunday, 15 February 2004 18:21 (twenty-two years ago)

That's ok, I've got lots of things I could pull out of my river of tricks.

― Leee Majors (Leee), Sunday, 15 February 2004 18:21 (twenty-two years ago)

... it could be a river of shticks if you work in that there's a lot of ppl who fake suicide to gather attention or something?

― Sébastien Chikara (Sébastien Chikara), Sunday, 15 February 2004 18:22 (twenty-two years ago)

If, in your opinion, a metaphor you want to use "literally and figuratively means nothing", then it has no function as a metaphor. It only functions as a pun. A metaphor must present a figure of the thing it refers to, so the two overlap or superimpose in at least one of their aspects.

I presume the figure might still be useful in a particular context such as dreaming, where the visual pun presents the dreamer with a riddle to be solved in waking life.

Just playing with words can be fun, but when pursued for its own sake it is more often a sterile exercise. Like ModJ said, "is it funny?"

― Aimless, Sunday, 15 February 2004 18:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Or punnny?

― ModJ (ModJ), Sunday, 15 February 2004 18:25 (twenty-two years ago)

river of schicks:

http://www.nationwidecampus.com/pictures/9781-1.jpg

― jody (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 15 February 2004 18:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Ouch!

― Aja (aja), Sunday, 15 February 2004 18:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Now that's sharp. (also works as a xpost for the post of aimless)

― Sébastien Chikara (Sébastien Chikara), Sunday, 15 February 2004 18:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Would grammatical variations, like "river sticking," be in order? I don't know why I'm asking, the answer's yes.

― Leee Majors (Leee), Sunday, 15 February 2004 18:51 (twenty-two years ago)

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