A metaphor is a comparison implied but not definitely stated. In the case of simile the comparison is explicitly stated by means of such words as like or as. In controversial situations the employment of metaphor or simile is to be avoided because such figures of speech are apt to suggest likenesses not really intended or not actually present. For example, regarding the simile statement: “Napoleon was like a fox,” Napoleon was not actually a fox. He may have been like one, but if so, was it with respect to shrewdness or thievery or both or neither.