- astroturfing: public relations campaigns in politics and advertising that try to create the impression of being spontaneous, grassroots behavior. - straw man: the practice of refuting an argument that is weaker than one's opponent actually offers, or which he simply has not put forth at all. A type of logical fallacy. - spin (public relations): a heavily biased portrayal of an event or situation. - witch-hunt: the hysterical pursuit of political enemies - bread and circuses: satisfaction of shallow or immediate desires of the populace at the expense of good policy; also, the erosion of civic duty and the public life in a populace. There are many more, enough to prove the importance of the metaphor in our lives. Notes - ↑ "Time Is Money". www.lang.osaka-u.ac.jp. - ↑ This phrase originally referred to François Leclerc du Tremblay, the right-hand man of Cardinal Richelieu. Leclerc was a Capuchin friar who was renowned for his beige robe attire (beige was called "grey" in then)