Can anything be put into any container? A few remarks on possible and impossible metaphors involving synthetic, analytical and unique concepts
Can anything be put into any container? A few remarks on possible and impossible metaphors involving synthetic, analytical and unique concepts

Summary/Abstract: The article raises important and at the same time very interesting questions about the limits and constraints on metaphors in the light of the conceptions of cognitive linguistics and some well known works like Lakoff – Johnson (1980, 1999), Turner (1990) or Krzeszowski (1997, 2006). It investigates both theoretical and practical aspects of conceptual metaphor, aiming also at identifying the apparently weak points in the reasoning of the quoted authors, especially when it comes to distinguishing between ‘‘oneshot” and ‘‘conventional” or even between ‘‘possible” and ‘‘impossible” metaphors. The author of the article tries to prove that it is very difficult to impose limitations on metaphors and brings into question, among other things, the claim that metaphorization is impossible if synthetic concepts, such as mathematical figures, are involved. In his analysis, the author refers also to the Conduit Metaphor, as seen by Reddy (1979), which seems to be very helpful in understating the processes behind the forming of other metaphorical constructions, although is often criticized by linguists as allegedly being a faulty conception structuring human communication.

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