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Single Idea 24448

[catalogued under 7. Existence / B. Change in Existence / 4. Events / a. Nature of events]

Full Idea

Events and actions are conceptualised metaphorically as object, activities as substances, and states as containers.

Gist of Idea

Events are metaphorical objects (and activities are substances, and states are containers)

Source

G Lakoff / M Johnson (Metaphors We Live By [1980], 06)

A Reaction

A nice, and persuasive, example of how deeply metaphors penetrate the way we conceptualise things. It takes an big effort to reject the object metaphor, and really conceive of events as processes.

Book Reference

Lakoff,G/Johnson,M: 'Metaphors We Live By' [Chicago 2003], p.30