And then, sir, would he gripe and wring my hand,
Cry "O sweet creature!" and then kiss me hard,
As if he pluck’d up kisses by the roots
That grew upon my lips.
– William Shakespeare
Othello, Act 3, Scene 3. Iago uses a plant simile to describe how a sleeping Cassio mistook him for Desdemona and kissed him hard on the lips. It was as if the kisses grew on Iago’s lips and Cassio plucked them up by the roots, Iago tells Roderigo. Iago uses graphic detail to help reinforce the lie that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair.