Comparison:
San Francisco had the air this week of teenagers frantically cleaning up after a house party with their parents on the way home.
New York Times writer Heather Knight rapidly captured the essence of a profound city clean up effort going on in San Francisco. In anticipation of the imminent arrival of heads of state for the APEC conference, city workers and other contractors were working at warp speed. Deep metaphoric thinkers will have to decide if the phrase “had the air . . . of“ moves Knight's powerful lede from a pure metaphor to a simile. DM if you'd like to weigh in on that.
Context:
San Francisco had the air this week of teenagers frantically cleaning up after a house party with their parents on the way home.
. . .
Not since the United Nations Charter was signed here in 1945 has San Francisco hosted as large a gathering of world leaders as the one convening over the next week. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, beginning on Saturday, is expected to draw 21 world leaders from Pacific Rim countries — including President Biden and President Xi Jinping of China. As many as 30,000 people are expected to attend.
Citation:
Knight, Heather. “Before World Leaders Arrive, San Francisco Races to Clean Up.” New York Times, 10 Nov. 2023. Web.
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