“Shy and awkward people are not looking for you to save them because they don’t need to be saved. Why do we throw around the phrase ‘She really helped him break out of his shell’ as if that’s a good thing? If a turtle breaks out of his shell, he will die.”
Daniel O’Brien, Cracked.com, on awkwardness
The metaphor is about a bird breaking out of its shell, not a turtle. If a person likes being shy and awkward, that’s one thing, but the metaphor implies helping someone become what they want to, not dragging them kicking and screaming out of shy awkwardness.
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