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Term for a type of comparative phrase

Posted by Bob on October 06, 2000

In Reply to: Term for a type of comparative phrase posted by lotte Larsen on October 05, 2000

: I'm searching for the specific term to phrases that compare one person with another famous person, such as so and so is "the michelangelo of..." or "the raphael of...." or "the Picasso of pumpkins" (applied to a cook making pumpkin pies) Does anyone know the name for this type of phrase. I don't think it is called eponymous phrase. Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

You're right about it not being eponymous. (Jerry Seinfeld was the eponymous star of "Seinfeld," the tv show.)
It's a metaphor, and I don't know if it has any fancier or more specific name than that... but it deserves one. Remember Shakes the Clown? Bill Murrary called it "the Citizen Kane of drunken clown movies."
So, if there is no existing name for this category, let's invent one. Metastar? Celebrephor? Famavator?

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