Metaphors We Live By
- 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 Are there any you found odd, outdated, or different from metaphorical systems that you use, either personally or in your language, culture, or social sphere?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 battle, or use orientational metaphors the same way the authors describe?
A: I found two main verbal metaphors the article mentioned, which are “argument is war” and ” time is money “, are both relevant and did not feel outdated. One reason might be English is not my first language so I did not grow up in the same context as a native speaker. Second, I learned the language by its assigned meaning. Since both of the expressions are intuitive and comprehensible to me, they are not odd to me.
Though some spatialization metaphors look a bit different than how I perceived native speakers would put out, such as “unknown is up, known is down”. They aren’t isolated cases, at least it takes me a few seconds to “grasp” the meaning of “unknown” which is defined as “unclear, undecided”. I don’t think “That’s up in the air” is an outdated expression, just not as intuitive as other examples.
- 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?
A: Thinking back on linguistic expression reflecting a certain metaphorical concept, the naming of some editing techniques comes into mind. One technique called “mask”, where the editor selects part of the unwanted image and hides it off (or the reverse) is used metaphorically in this case. The experiential basis might be the physical techniques applied frame by frame in the film era. Before moving images practices became mainly digital, if something unwanted happened on the raw footage, editors would then need to cover up the unwanted part with other materials.
I always use metaphors that maybe only me and my friends would understand because more often we share context . By changing, I sometimes intentionally switch verbs within a sentence to exaggerate my reaction. For example, instead of saying “I’ll reach out to you”, I will say “Yall at you when I know”.
- 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?
My topic is “grafting”, which certainly has a human-centric aspect within. Metaphors commonly used in the realm of study are verbs indicating status such as: undergo, under, between, select, etc. Usually, within the context, plants “undergo” profound changes or “under” natural conditions. “Under” seems to be implemented as an orientational metaphor often in the case suggesting lower status of plants. (intellectually? or power of control)
I am not sure what “other kinds of metaphors” within the prompt specifically suggest. Like “what are the other ways people could describe the process of grafting”?