A Metaphor Escaped designation is reserved for names that acquire an unintended symbolic meaning after entering public life.
Flock Safety chose a bird-themed identity. As its camera network spread, however, another meaning of flock—sheep, crowds, collective behavior—began attaching itself to the name.
No conspiracy is required.
Sometimes the English language simply develops a sense of humor.
My previous encounter with birds suggested they might become rather difficult to live with.
These, however, are said to be perfectly civilized. They simply watch the neighborhood, discourage mischief, and help reconstruct events after they’ve occurred.
Reassuring, isn’t it?
It is not the birds that give certain people pause. . .
It is the possibility that someone else may someday decide exactly what the birds ought to be watching for.”
Once upon a morning cheery,
Suburbs calm and skies not dreary,
While I pondered modern slogans,
Promising security galore—
Through my window, there came gleaming
Something with a green light beaming;
Perched upon it sat a raven,
Calmly watching evermore.
Then I asked, “What seeks this creature?
Surely crime is all your feature?”
Quoth the Raven,
“Evermore.”
I replied, “Good bird, explain it.
Will this watchfulness remain?
It surely must be but a measure,
Needed only for a war?”
Softly then the raven shifted,
On the camera lightly lifted—
Quoth the Raven,
“Evermore.”
Then I whispered, rather shaken,
“Must a free man now awaken
Knowing every road remembers,
Every journey keeps a score?”
Still the bird remained unblinking,
Leaving me alone there thinking—
Quoth the Raven,
“Evermore.”
Some may call it ripping off. We call it riffing off. A rip copies the tune. A riff takes the melody somewhere new. Robert Ripley was remembered not only for his curiosity, but also for his generosity toward others. In that spirit, we hope he would have accepted RIFFLEY’S: NAMESAKE OR NOT? as an affectionate homage rather than an imitation.
THE COUNCIL COULDN’T LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE. . .
—Egged on, predictably enough, by our brother publication, The Perennial Sophomore, we kept riffing.
That follows shore to shore?
It is no albatross at all—
It pings me evermore.
COUNCIL-OF CONCERNED-CONSERVATIONISTS…..Between Jest And Earnest….. 
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