Ontological Metaphor
Definition:
An ontological metaphor is a metaphor in which an abstraction, such as an activity, emotion, or idea, is represented as something concrete, such as an object, substance, container, or person.
Examples:
The following sentences express the activity-as-container metaphor:
- How did Jerry get out of washing the windows?
- Outside of washing the windows, what else did you do?
- How did you get into window-washing as a profession?
- I put a lot of energy into washing the windows.
- I get a lot of satisfaction out of washing windows.
See Also:
Source:
This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library. Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003.