Metaphors play an important part of everyday communication. One word or short phrase can be used to describe something that is inherently complex but make it simple. Logjam is a common metaphor today used to describe something that is clogged, dysfunctional and even hopeless - like our federal, state and local politics. Where do metaphors come from? For logjam it's pretty simple - from log jams.
Photo courtesy Washington State Historical Society, 1996.55.12, circa 1908
Moving logs along waterways was by far the easiest way to transport big and heavy logs from stump to mill. Until they jammed, of course. And then they often needed dynamite to get unclogged. The stronger the visual image we have, the stronger the metaphor. Logjam seems to be a pretty darn good metaphor, wouldn't you say?
Photo courtesy Washington State Historical Society, 2002.79.1, circa 1908
Now where is that dynamite we seem to need here in Black Diamond?
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