FOOD IDIOMS IN RELATION TO METAPHOR
FOOD IDIOMS IN RELATION TO METAPHOR

Summary/Abstract: This article aims to demonstrate how linguistic processes succeed in reflecting the transference of meaning from one object onto another with the help of the figurative language, as metaphor is traditionally taken to be the most fundamental form of it. Our interest is particularly focused on food idioms as they are pervasive in everyday language and create new realities. Idioms are conventionalized phrases, where the meaning of the whole phrase is different from the meaning, which might be produced by interpreting the individual words in the phrase; thus, the examples in our analysis are metaphorical, and the use of the term idiom is restricted to figurative phrases. We find this study relevant for various reasons. Firstly, the fact that the metaphorical use of a word is more common today than its literal use leads us to the existence of a multitude of food mappings which can be fully exploited. Secondly, food may serve as a concept for ideas, love, life, identity, morality, learning, etc., concepts that can be beautifully revealed through metaphorical expressions. Similarities between ideas and food can be perceived through various mental processes, which are understood and experienced in terms of something concrete. The existence of a relationship of resemblance between two separate domains facilitates the conceptual structuring of one domain in terms of another. Following Lakoff and Johnson’s theory of conceptual metaphor we shall emphasize the role of mental images in understanding idioms.

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