What I mean is like for example, a person having “gravitational pull” or someone making a “quantum leap” makes no sense to anyone who knows about physics. Gravity is extremely weak and quantum leaps are tiny.
Or “David versus Goliath” to describe a huge underdoge makes no sense to anyone who knows about history, because nobody bringing a gun to a sword fight is going to be the underdog but that’s essentially what David did.
I’m looking for more examples like that.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day”
Has an entirely different message to me. It’s often used as a reminder to be patient, not to loose your temper, etc.
On the day Rome was founded Romulus killed his brother Remus and marked out the city of Rome, construction starts. This is my initial reaction.
The next thing the Romans, a group of men (probably criminals), did after founding Rome was to raid their neighbours and kidnap their women. Rome then makes war for the better part of a thousand years, eventually subjugating the known world.
I think it’s better used as a reminder subjugation starts out in small measures. “Parliament just passed antiterrorism laws, I’m sure they’re to protect us” “Rome wasn’t built in a day”