Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes a subject by asserting that it is, on some point of comparison, the same as another otherwise unrelated object. Metaphor is a type of analogy and is closely related to other rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via association, comparison or resemblance including allegory, hyperbole, and simile.
In simpler terms, a metaphor compares two objects or things without using the words "like" or "as".
One of the most prominent examples of a metaphor in English literature is the All the world 's a stage monologue from As You Like It:
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances; — William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Other writers employ the general terms ground and figure to denote tenor and the vehicle. In cognitive linguistics, the terms target and source are used respectively.
The Philosophy of Rhetoric (1936) by I. A. Richards describes a metaphor as having two parts: the tenor and the vehicle. The tenor is the subject to which attributes are ascribed. The vehicle is the object whose attributes are borrowed. In the previous example, "the world" is compared to a stage, describing it with the attributes of “the stage”; "the world" is the tenor, and "a stage" is the vehicle; "men and women" is a secondary tenor, "players" is the secondary vehicle.
Common types
A dead metaphor is one in which the sense of a transferred image is absent. Examples: "to grasp a concept" and "to gather what you 've understood" use physical action as a metaphor for understanding. Most people do not visualize the action — dead metaphors normally go unnoticed. Some people distinguish between a dead metaphor and a cliché. Others use "dead metaphor" to denote both.
A mixed metaphor is one that leaps from one identification to a second identification inconsistent with the first. "I smell a rat [...] but I 'll nip him in the bud" — Irish politician Boyle
In simpler terms, a metaphor compares two objects or things without using the words "like" or "as".
One of the most prominent examples of a metaphor in English literature is the All the world 's a stage monologue from As You Like It:
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances; — William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Other writers employ the general terms ground and figure to denote tenor and the vehicle. In cognitive linguistics, the terms target and source are used respectively.
The Philosophy of Rhetoric (1936) by I. A. Richards describes a metaphor as having two parts: the tenor and the vehicle. The tenor is the subject to which attributes are ascribed. The vehicle is the object whose attributes are borrowed. In the previous example, "the world" is compared to a stage, describing it with the attributes of “the stage”; "the world" is the tenor, and "a stage" is the vehicle; "men and women" is a secondary tenor, "players" is the secondary vehicle.
Common types
A dead metaphor is one in which the sense of a transferred image is absent. Examples: "to grasp a concept" and "to gather what you 've understood" use physical action as a metaphor for understanding. Most people do not visualize the action — dead metaphors normally go unnoticed. Some people distinguish between a dead metaphor and a cliché. Others use "dead metaphor" to denote both.
A mixed metaphor is one that leaps from one identification to a second identification inconsistent with the first. "I smell a rat [...] but I 'll nip him in the bud" — Irish politician Boyle
References: 1)Jody Bogdonovich, Jefferey Sykes, and Dale Barr. 1997. Metaphor in idiom comprehension. Journal of Memory and Language, 37, 141-154. 2)Paula, Lima, and Edson Françozo. 2004. Metaphor is grounded in embodied experience. Journal of Pragmatics, 36, 1189-1210 3) Gerard Steen (Eds.) 1999. Metaphor in cognitive linguistics. Amsterdam: Benjamins 4) , Lisa Strom, and Michael Spivey-Knowlton. 1997. Conceptual metaphor in mental imagery for proverbs. Journal of Mental Imagery, 21, 83-110. 5)GRADY, Joe.1997. THEORIES ARE BUILDINGS revisited. Cognitive Linguistics, 8, 267-290. 6)1999. A typology of motivation for conceptual metaphor: Correlation vs. resemblance. In R. GIBBS and G. STEEN (Eds.), Metaphor in cognitive linguistics (pp. 79-100). Amsterdam: Benjamins.