There are times when I've felt it was spurious, especially in cases where the expression in question was something in common, every-day use.

However, as others have pointed out, it can be incredibly funny to take figurative language literally, and we ARE a parody society. There are certain times you almost have to laugh at it if you're really paying attention. In the case of speech tags, it may be all well and good to write something like: "'Stop that right now,' he barked." The problem happens when the writer gives us something like: "Stop that right now.' He barked." Improper punctuation takes a perfectly good speech tag and turns it into something laughable because the connection between the speech and the descriptor is lost, forcing the figurative language to stand alone and giving the sensitive reader no choice but to read it as written. Cue people barking like dogs.

Another example is something from one of my newer missions: "A skirt, bright with swirls of emerald, violet and royal blue floated around the floor, stopping at the toes of black boots." Now, you and I know that the writer MEANT to say the skirt floated around the wearer's feet, but the fact is that the writer did not say that. The writer said it floated around the floor. For humor, I took that to mean the skirt actually floated around the floor, leaving the character's lower half uncovered. ^__^ Also, one of my agents picked up the stray skirt, which to this day will always come to a halt if there are black boots in its path. {= )

So, yes, criticizing figurative language can be taken too far, but I say if the writer isn't using it properly it's fair game.

~Neshomeh

I understand what you are saying. It isn't that we are overly critical of figurative language. I use it often myself. What we may have a problem with is a paragraph that is all about how someone looks or sounds that is so full of figurative language that you aren't even sure what it is about anymore.

Consider, for a moment, that every time a character speaks the word "chirped" is used. Wouldn't a character who only seems to chirp (and they chirp often) become a bird in your mind?

When we make figurative language seem ridiculous in a mission, we are simply saying that the fic has broken the rules of the word world to the point that the world is taking every word literally. It makes a mission funnier, especially if our agents say something that they soon regret.

I hope this helps clear things up.

-Barid

The thing with figurative language though is that there is only so much you can squash in. Too much of it, and you end up with purple prose and something that's nigh impossible to read. At the same time, metaphors and similes can also be a bit of a crutch when you're writing when you start to rely on overused ones.

My personal stance on it is 1) Too much figurative language can kill the actual writing, 2) using this sort of thing in missions helps to emphasise to readers that some thought should go into it, and also that 3) missions are supposed to be funny, which is where having someone turn into a tiger temporarily while fighing because the Words Said So comes into play.