Another case for SCREAM

“The aftermath of the case [one of these social service tragedies] continues to echo . . . ” said a TV commentator recently. As usual, it is clear what is meant; but an echoing aftermath is certainly a dire mixture of metaphors. ‘Echo’ is a metaphor from sound (just as the term ‘resonate’ would be): ‘aftermath’ is a metaphor from haymaking. It dates from the sixteenth century or earlier, and may be a corruption of a term ‘aftermowth’ meaning what comes up after you’ve mown* and cleared a meadow - the fresh shoots of grasses and herbs that you hope will spring up and provide a little grazing**. They can scarcely make an audible sound, let alone raise an echo.

* I was within an ace of using the phrase 'leaves in its wake', which would have added the further muddle of a nautical metaphor. And if you are wondering where the metaphorical 'within an ace of' comes from , it's more likely to be from dice than cards. You can win (or lose) a game by the narrow margin of a single dot. And as for where the word 'ace' comes from, it is the Latin word 'as', meaning a 'single unit', or the Roman coin of lowest value.

But, I imagine you objecting, we use the term 'ace' to mean the best, not the cheapest. Here we have an instance of a (metaphorical) fork in the semantic (metaphorical) road: it happens that in twenty-first century idiom the concept of the number 'one' can either signify 'the lowest possible score' or 'the highest possible rating'. The Romans might be puzzled by this.

** The metaphorical ‘aftermath’ therefore implies not so much ‘resultant mess’, but ‘what still usefully remains’. The ‘aftermath of war’ should imply, then, not so much the necessary clearing up, but what remains as the foundation of a new peace.

Another case for SCREAM