Metaphors and Similes

I majored in English in college and took electives in Linguistics because I've always been fascinated by language. I also studied Latin, German and French in school and later became fluent in American Sign Language. I'm the author of five books and my work has been published in lots of anthologies and periodicals so the information I learned about our language has been useful to me for the most part.

But here's one thing I don't understand: why does anyone care about the difference between a metaphor and a simile?

Yes, I had to learn the definitions in school to pass tests, but in all my years as a writer and reader I've never needed to know that information.

Sometimes I use and read comparisons using the words, like, or as, and sometimes I use and read comparisons that don't use those words.

So what?

The meaning is clear either way.

Lots of things - maybe even most things - I learned about grammar in school are useful to know,  but the difference between a metaphor and a simile is one thing I consider a waste of time to teach.

Who cares?

Parts of Speech

When I was a kid we were taught the difference between metaphors and similes. When I was an English major in college my professors spent time going over that information again and it was on important exams. As a teacher I've often seen curriculum teaching the same information to kids. And, of course, as a professional writer I'm expected to know that information.

Both of them are used to compare things, but it doesn't really matter if people use 'like' or 'as,' or use other comparisons that leave those words out. It's still obvious that things are being compared.

Lots of grammatical information really does matter. If a sentence doesn't have both a noun and a verb it doesn't communicate the intended information, and confusing adjectives and adverbs can make it obvious that a speaker doesn't know the English language well. It's important for students to have basic knowledge about how our language works.

But I have a big question about the difference between a metaphor and a simile. Why in the world does our education system spend so much time  on such a small distinction? The few people who are fascinated by grammar might consider the difference important, but when it comes to communication between ordinary people, who cares?