What do you call it when you say one thing is to another thing as something else is to ...

[ThomWV]

What's it called when you say something like:

ACORN is to voter fraud
as
Death Panels are to Health Care?

[HughBeaumont]

1. Analogy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analogy

Common on Mensa quizzes and SATs.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

2. Analogy (nt)

[SemiCharmedQuark]

3. An Analogy?

[Iggo]

4. I belive that'd be one o' them there analogies.

I must type really slow...lol.

[daedalus_dude]

5. Actually, I think your example should be:

voter fraud is to ACORN
as
Death Panels are to Health Care

I believe the sequence matters in analogies.

:P ;)

[ThomWV]

6. Thank you very much - I won't go back and fix it but I agree with your assessment.

and thanks to all who reminded me that analogy is the right term.

[Tansy_Gold]

8. I'd do it differently. . . .

Voter fraud is the non-existent crime of which ACORN was accused.

Death panels are the non-existent evil (but not yet a crime) of which Health Care REFORM is accused.

ACORN as an organization is not quite the equivalent to the policy objective of Health Care Reform.

I point this out not (just) to be pedantic, but because the care we take in language choice can affect the outcomes. In fact, "death panels" are an existing part of the present health care system. It's not just a matter of insurance companies deciding which procedures to approve and for which patients. It's also a matter of doctors not treating the uninsured, emergency room services being stressed by what ought to be routine medical care, and so on.

Therefore the connection of death panels to "health care" is in fact currently accurate, while linking ACORN to voter fraud is not.

Voter fraud is to ACORN what "death panels" is to HCR.



Tansy Gold, who loves words

[ashling]

7. Haiku (sort 0f)

Your analogy will require
Analgesics to retire
Gives me a headache