A phantom metaphor? An example of a metaphorically derived technical term which might be assumed by a novice or non-specialist to be a live metaphor,
"When phospholipids are exposed to water, they self-assemble into a two-layered sheet with the hydrophobic tails pointing toward the center of the sheet. This arrangement results in two 'leaflets' that are each a single molecular layer. The center of this bilayer contains almost no water and excludes molecules like sugars or salts that dissolve in water. The assembly process and maintenance are driven by aggregation of hydrophobic molecules (also called the hydrophobic effect). This complex process includes non-covalent interactions such as van der Waals forces, electrostatic and hydrogen bonds"
Wikipedia entry on Lipid bilayer
