I just stumbled into a definition of the difference of a para- and metaphrase. Below is an extract from wiki. I have always been interested in words, but I wonder if my recent increasing interest in words and the meaning of the same has anything to do with me learning computer programming ? In programming the meaning and spelling of words really matters and I haven’t thought of words in this way before. That sounds a bit weird when I read what I just wrote, the spelling and meaning of words always matters, especially when you want to communicate with people :), but still, learning to program does something with the way you relate to words. That is my experience.

… metaphrase, which represents a “formal equivalent” of the source, a paraphrase represents a “dynamic equivalent” thereof. While a metaphrase attempts to translate a text literally, a paraphrase conveys the essential thought expressed in a source text — if necessary, at the expense of literality. For details, see “Dynamic and formal equivalence.”…