Full Idea
The experience of time is understood almost entirely in metaphorical terms (as spatialised, or as moving object,, or as money).
Gist of Idea
We understand time in almost entirely metaphorical terms
Source
G Lakoff / M Johnson (Metaphors We Live By [1980], 19)
A Reaction
But we also abstract away from this metaphorical (and physical) presentation, and try to consider time in itself. We represent it in equations as plain 't', or as a number like 10:15.
Book Reference
Lakoff,G/Johnson,M: 'Metaphors We Live By' [Chicago 2003], p.118