“She found a clue of thread in the corner of the maze.”
Semantic shift Entry 108 / 1011 60-second read
Clue (Semantic Shift)
Originally meant 'ball of thread' — now means 'piece of evidence' or 'hint'.
The comparisoni
“She found a clue that led her to the suspect.”
More examplesii
01
Clues are modern inventions for detective work.
Clues comes from Ariadne's thread in Greek mythology.
02
The detective unrolled a ball of thread as a clue.
The detective found a clue in the form of a fingerprint.
03
In chess, a clue is something you hold in your hand.
In Clue the game, a clue is a piece of evidence pointing to the culprit.
The ruleiii
¶
SEMANTIC SHIFT VIA METAPHOR: Clue shifted from 'ball of thread' to 'evidence' through the metap…
The shift comes from Greek mythology: Theseus used a ball of thread to find his way out of the Minotaur's maze. Thread = guide out of confusion. Evidence = guide to truth.
Memory aidiv
Remember it like this
Follow the thread. Ariadne's thread in mythology = clues help you thread through confusion.