Up: [[Metaphor]]
Created: 2025-01-28
Updated: 2025-11-16
George Lakoff looked at common metaphors for anger.
- Hot fluid: I’ve reached boiling point.
- Fire: Those are inflammatory remarks.
- Insanity: He went crazy with anger.
- An opponent: She fought back her anger.
- A dangerous animal: He had a ferocious temper.
- Trespassing: You’ve stepped over the line.
- A burden: Get it off your chest
All of them are anger, but they are different qualities of anger.
Metaphor does a better job of distinguishing between emotional qualities than do either
concepts, which are good for definitions, but not particular enough for a person’s experience,
or
sensory terms, which are good for detail and accuracy but not necessarily the quality.