Just for a lesson's sake, I attempted to make them metaphors for comparison:

 Originally Posted By: olly
She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like the sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh that was the sound a dog makes just before it throws up.

 Originally Posted By: olly
Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
Her vocabulary was whatever.

 Originally Posted By: olly
He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.
He was a six-foot-three-inch tree.


 Originally Posted By: olly
Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
Her glistening hair was nose hair after a sneeze.


 Originally Posted By: olly
He walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs.
Walking into my office, he was a centipede with 98 missing legs.

But I have to say, they make much better similes than metaphors, which demonstrates that there is a time and place for every literary device.
Olly, I especially like the first one and the fourth one... he he :0)