- Lakoff + Johnson give several examples throughout the text of linguistic metaphorical systems. Are there any you found odd, outdated, or different from metaphorical systems that you use, either personally or in your language, culture, or social sphere? For instance, do you speak about conversation as a battle, or use orientational metaphors the same way the authors describe?
- A metaphorical system example that I use would be, argument. In my Jamaican culture, arguments are like battles or wars. However at certain points, we do reason, but for the most part, when listening to the arguments there are a lot of metaphors being thrown at each other. For example, “You are dense”, “You are on thin ice”. Arguments like those are to dominate the other.
- Can you identify a metaphorical system that you commonly use? What do you think is the motivating rationale (“experiential basis”) behind that system – or is there one? Have you ever intentionally (or unintentionally) changed the metaphorical system that you use to speak about a certain subject, to reflect a different experience or worldview?
- One commonly used metaphor system would be that in Jamaican culture, people will not openly refer to their dogs or cats as their “pets” however in the United States, the word “pets” has a valuable meaning behind it. Pets are considered companions or “part of the family, whereas, in Jamaica, dogs and cats have specific purposes to keep rodents and intruders away. They are not considered “companions, but are needed in the house. I think that growing up in America made me realize the difference between the two experiences.
- What metaphors/systems of metaphor are commonly used when discussing your topic? If “the essence of a metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another” (5), what other kinds of metaphors might be useful for discussing your topic, or an aspect of your topic?
- I would say for my topic of Taxidermy, that “preservation is life”. Many people use taxidermy as a way to preserve life, whether to study or in loving memory.
Based on what we spoke about, flipping the agency of taxidermy can be very effective. Critique is embedded in the humor. Now you can decide on an aesthetic (funny, creepy, Uber-scientific, etc.) and a specific audience. Here again is the link to the site we found: https://catscientists.tumblr.com