Metaphors We Live By - Lakoff & Johnson

 Area 1:

Lakoff & Johnson note that "Human thought processes are largely metaphorical" (pg 6). The metaphors we choose, like 'ARGUMENT IS WAR' restricts our perspective, and prevent us from noticing some aspects or concepts that do not fit that metaphor. Context matters; it can't necessarily be determined from the words alone, and without context it might make no sense at all. Metaphors often have orientation in physical space, e.g. up-down, front-back, etc., but the meaning of the directionality may differ from culture to culture. Fundamental values in a culture are reflected in coherent spatial metaphors. 

Area 2:

Lakoff & Johnson's example of 'ARGUMENT IS WAR' also implies accompanying emotions or other descriptors. For example: I associate 'conflict,' 'adversity,' and 'confrontation' with the metaphor, which impacts my emotional state, potentially making me anxious, grumpy, or simply angry. Separating argument from debate or discussion seems very important to avoid the negative implications of 'ARGUMENT IS WAR.'

The use of metaphors as part of an invisible but ever present 'mother culture' is intriguing and inescapable. I was reminded of the cultural relativity of metaphor and symbols after watching a video discussing the adoption of Japanese emojis by Americans. The American meaning ascribed to each was sometimes very different and based on cultural differences. 

One subcultural example I can think of is using UP vs DOWN to indicate openness to something. For example, "I'm down for that" indicates openness, just as "I'm up for that" does, but these seem to be less likely to be used by the same person & subculture.  I'm also thinking of the phrase to "get high" which I guess could be aligned with 'feeling up' or in good spirits. I checked for synonyms and found 'low' and 'lit up', so maybe they don't describe a necessarily better feeling but perhaps a *different* from normal feeling, although 'high as a kite' definitely implies directionality.


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