figures of speech

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Does anyone else see things people say too literally and then it gets them in trouble socially?
For example, if a friend said that 'you'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit', does that seem scary or is just me?

I think of them literally too, but my reaction is usually thinking it absurdly funny. My favorite is 'When the s**t hits the fan.'.

thanks Toy_Soldier - it's weird because I usually laugh at this sort of s--- too, but for some reason this one got to me. I'm setting my controls back now.

Well now that I am thinking about it, there actually is one that always disturbed me. 'Like a mouse in a air pump'. The thought, even fictional makes me sad.

I often wondered what people learning English make of things like 'Tastes like s**t.'

I LOVE the way I see metaphorical and figurative literally, when I am reading poetry I get a strong visual flare of the imagery. I think my favorite thing in the world are similes and analogies because I see them so visually and have to work backwards to see the meaning and sometimes gasp when I see just how much something can be something else.

Another that gives me a chuckle is 's**t eating grin'.