A Furthermorph is a word or phrase that refers to things and phenomena in nature that are not faunamorphs or floramorphs.
These are linguistic reflections of our fascination with fungi, minerals, weather, celestial bodies, and other natural phenomena that exist beyond the boundaries of flora and fauna. Furthermorphs remind us that humans don’t just identify with what breathes or blooms — we also see ourselves mirrored in the slime, the stones, the stars, and the storms.
The Third Kingdom — and Beyond
Take the humble mushroom, mold, or lichen — organisms that blur the lines between plant and something “other.” They creep, spread, cluster, and decay — and so do the metaphors we’ve built around them. We speak of Spore new ideas, Mushrooming problems, mold of behavior, A culture gone to mold, Fungal growth of corruption, A slimy situation, Spreading like mold, Fester with resentment, Rot at the core, Mycelial networks of influence, Spores of creativity, A decomposing institution. These are furthermorphs — they carry our sense of growth, decay, renewal, and transformation from one world into another. They remind us that our language, like a forest floor, is alive with hidden threads of meaning — spreading quietly beneath the surface.
Skyborne Metaphors
Beyond the forest floor lies the sky — where furthermorphs take to the heavens. Here, we find expressions that draw on weather, light, air, and celestial bodies to reflect human moods and behavior.
We say: Stormy temper, Thunderous applause, Lightning-fast reflexes, Radiate warmth, Glow with pride, Cloud over with sadness, Under the weather, Walking on air, Bask in the spotlight, Throw shade, Silver lining, Dark cloud of doubt, Clear skies ahead, Full of hot air, A tempest in a teapot, Shooting star, Over the moon, Starstruck, Moonstruck, Lost in the fog, Frozen out.
Each phrase connects human emotion and experience to climate, atmosphere, and cosmic motion, making the intangible tangible.
“As above, so below.” The sky, too, becomes our mirror.
Of Stones, Crystals, and Grounding Forces
Furthermorphs don’t stop at the skies. They dig deep… literally. Our connection to the earth beneath our feet is written into our language of solidity, clarity, and endurance.
We speak of: Hard as rock, Solid as a stone, Rock-bottom, Between a rock and a hard place, Bedrock principles, Crystal clear, Crystallize an idea, Polished performance, Gem of a person, Diamond in the rough, Grit and grind, Pressure makes diamonds, Break the ice, Crack under pressure, Erode over time, Grounded individual, Earth-shattering news, Rock-solid evidence, Sparkling wit, Mine for truth.
These geological metaphors show our kinship not with what grows, but with what endures and what only changes over eons.
They remind us that even our hardest emotions, our most stable beliefs, and our deepest memories are mineral in nature — compressed, layered, and multifaceted.