Metaphors We Live by Response Essay
“Metaphors We Live By”
As suggested by Lakoff and Johnson in Metaphors We Live By, “Concepts govern our everyday functioning, down to the mundane details” (Johnson, 1980). What I found interesting while reading this article is that Metaphors We Live By gives us examples that demonstrate metaphors used in everyday language. Lakoff and Johnson explained, our culture has significant influence on how we use metaphors; where we as Americans see arguing in terms of war, they want to get the high ground. Other cultures view arguing as a dance, methodical, precise and meant to entertain one another.
In the topic “Argument is War” the authors speak of arguments in terms of battles. I find these metaphors interesting because they make our experiences or literature vivid and exciting. An example mentioned in the article was, “He attacked every weak point in my argument” (Johnson, 1980). This metaphor is used to describe that this opponent found faults or holes in his argument and was left in the more passive position of defending his argument instead of acting as the aggressor.
In the Systematicitty of Metaphorical Concepts Lakoff and Johnson uses the metaphor “Time is Money” to emphasize that time is a valuable and limited asset to our culture. Time is viewed and treated as a valuable commodity that cannot be replaced by anything except in most cases by money. The movie, Out of Time, takes the metaphor in its literal context. Instead of money, time is currency and the people with the most time are the richest. This metaphor is the foundation of my every day activities. Having a full schedule, loosing track of time could be detrimental to my entire day.
Before reading this article, I had little understanding of metaphors or their uses. In essence “Metaphors We Live By” has opened my to the impact of metaphors have on my life, language and culture and how our culture have an impact on the metaphors we use. Businessmen around the world live by the time is money
As suggested by Lakoff and Johnson in Metaphors We Live By, “Concepts govern our everyday functioning, down to the mundane details” (Johnson, 1980). What I found interesting while reading this article is that Metaphors We Live By gives us examples that demonstrate metaphors used in everyday language. Lakoff and Johnson explained, our culture has significant influence on how we use metaphors; where we as Americans see arguing in terms of war, they want to get the high ground. Other cultures view arguing as a dance, methodical, precise and meant to entertain one another.
In the topic “Argument is War” the authors speak of arguments in terms of battles. I find these metaphors interesting because they make our experiences or literature vivid and exciting. An example mentioned in the article was, “He attacked every weak point in my argument” (Johnson, 1980). This metaphor is used to describe that this opponent found faults or holes in his argument and was left in the more passive position of defending his argument instead of acting as the aggressor.
In the Systematicitty of Metaphorical Concepts Lakoff and Johnson uses the metaphor “Time is Money” to emphasize that time is a valuable and limited asset to our culture. Time is viewed and treated as a valuable commodity that cannot be replaced by anything except in most cases by money. The movie, Out of Time, takes the metaphor in its literal context. Instead of money, time is currency and the people with the most time are the richest. This metaphor is the foundation of my every day activities. Having a full schedule, loosing track of time could be detrimental to my entire day.
Before reading this article, I had little understanding of metaphors or their uses. In essence “Metaphors We Live By” has opened my to the impact of metaphors have on my life, language and culture and how our culture have an impact on the metaphors we use. Businessmen around the world live by the time is money