Question:
Can "looking glass" mean window?
Trajan
2011-07-20 18:12:23 UTC
I know it usually means a mirror but in a story I'm writing I used "looking glass" to mean he's looking through a window and watching something happen outside:

It's supposed to be a sort of surreal moment in the story so I used the Alice Wonder land reference
Six answers:
RedStar
2011-07-20 18:30:39 UTC
No, it can't mean window. It's a specific thing. The word 'looking-glass' can't mean 'window' any more than the word 'mirror' can mean window. They're not synonyms.



However, if you were deliberately trying to make a connection between the two things for symbolic reasons, hinting at an Alice-like moment/analogy, then you could use 'looking-glass' as a simile, or in your description.



For example:



If you said something like "He stood before the looking-glass and watched the children playing on the lawn outside" people are going to be confused and it doesn't really work as a metaphor. It's just clumsy.



But if you said "He stood before the window, its panes glistening in the sunlight like a polished looking-glass, and watched the children playing on the lawn outside" then you could use the looking-glass reference/analogy without sounding as if you'd just used the wrong term.



Or you could also say something like "As he stood at the window, watching the children playing on the lawn outside, he was aware of his own reflection in the panes, as if he were staring through a looking-glass."
?
2011-07-21 01:34:47 UTC
I don't see why not. I also used that term in my story describing a magical window that when looked thorough let you see for many miles beyond the surrounding landscape. It's good to have these kind of things installed when your main character is not well liked. It lets him know if anyone is trying to sneak up on him. xD
anonymous
2011-07-21 01:29:11 UTC
A looking glass is general understood to be a mirror, not a window.



a mirror; usually a ladies' dressing mirror http://www.thefreedictionary.com/looking+glass
anonymous
2011-07-21 01:15:27 UTC
Not without any additional explanation. If you use it in that way, make sure it is clear to your readers that it is a window that you are referring to.
anonymous
2011-07-21 01:17:29 UTC
um i guess, but the reference may be too strong and lead the reader to question themselves as they read it, and think "he's alluding to a mirror, but it sounds like window...weird" which is a bad reader reation



but who am i to judge until it is tried, write it, have someone read it, and their reaction should help dictate what to do :)
anonymous
2011-07-21 01:20:16 UTC
i think thast is fine as long as reader knows what you mean.


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