Metaphor: To describe an event by imputing to it a property it does not have but would be neat if it did. Metaphors are particularly useful to psychologists, who can get extra mileage out of metaphorically embellishing the same plain Jane observations. Thus consciousness is 'raised', emotions are 'released', and behavior is due to metaphorical memes, genes, impulses, willpower, and little people (or selfs) that live within the brain and pull all sorts of levers (see homunculus). Metaphors can also be used for succinct and accurate descriptions such as Dr. Phil 'sucks' and evolutionary psychology is 'bullshit', but such usage is unfortunately less common.
