Masayuki SatoMetaphorical expressions exist everywhere language exists and the quantity of the expressions is uncountable so we won’t be able to learn all these expressions by heart. Of course, we Japanese have them as well. Many people may regard these as special expressions like the phrases only poets or writers use, but we use these expressions unconsciously in everyday conversation.
Some metaphors use words from our bodies; some use words from nature. And there are many others. It seems that it is easy to understand almost all the metaphorical expressions because these are simple phrases or sentences so we can imagine the meaning easily. However it is superficial idea and the world of metaphor is really profound. For instance, you can use the phrase “a dog’s life” to explain “ a miserable life”. This results from the recognition that people consider the dog has been miserable since the 16th Century. If you don’t know this background, you can’t understand this meaning correctly. Another example of this is the word “cats and dogs”. This seemingly very easy phrase means “heavy rain”. In Scandinavian myth, it was believed that a cat had the power of making rain happen and a dog had the power of making wind blow. That’s why “cats and dogs” means “heavy rain”. As seen above, there are many cases where you must know the background of meaning. Conversely speaking, you can learn the idea or the culture of native speakers from metaphorical expressions.
Now, I’m going to talk about an interesting expression I found. English has the expression “sell like hot cakes” which means “to become a very big seller”. In the end of the 1700s, a great number of hot cakes was sold in a festival or some shops etc, and then this expression got to be used. When viewed from linguistics, this is called a simile, which is expressed with the word as or like. Another example is “cool as a cucumber”. This means “imperturbable or calm” so you can use it like this, “I’m as cool as a cucumber!” A long time ago, when a thermometer was invented, it was found that the temperature of a cucumber was 5 or 6 degrees lower than that of the air. That’s why.
There are many more metaphorical expressions. To study these is interesting and enlightening. How about finding some expressions by yourself, everyone?
Some metaphors use words from our bodies; some use words from nature. And there are many others. It seems that it is easy to understand almost all the metaphorical expressions because these are simple phrases or sentences so we can imagine the meaning easily. However it is superficial idea and the world of metaphor is really profound. For instance, you can use the phrase “a dog’s life” to explain “ a miserable life”. This results from the recognition that people consider the dog has been miserable since the 16th Century. If you don’t know this background, you can’t understand this meaning correctly. Another example of this is the word “cats and dogs”. This seemingly very easy phrase means “heavy rain”. In Scandinavian myth, it was believed that a cat had the power of making rain happen and a dog had the power of making wind blow. That’s why “cats and dogs” means “heavy rain”. As seen above, there are many cases where you must know the background of meaning. Conversely speaking, you can learn the idea or the culture of native speakers from metaphorical expressions.
Now, I’m going to talk about an interesting expression I found. English has the expression “sell like hot cakes” which means “to become a very big seller”. In the end of the 1700s, a great number of hot cakes was sold in a festival or some shops etc, and then this expression got to be used. When viewed from linguistics, this is called a simile, which is expressed with the word as or like. Another example is “cool as a cucumber”. This means “imperturbable or calm” so you can use it like this, “I’m as cool as a cucumber!” A long time ago, when a thermometer was invented, it was found that the temperature of a cucumber was 5 or 6 degrees lower than that of the air. That’s why.
There are many more metaphorical expressions. To study these is interesting and enlightening. How about finding some expressions by yourself, everyone?
In French 'cats and dogs' it uses when we want to talk about two people that can't stand each other.
ReplyDelete=)
Yeah,
ReplyDeleteYou could say the two guys were 'going at each other like cats & dogs."
Life without metaphors would be horrible!
ReplyDeleteAs you say, we use them all the time, in most cases unconsciously. "Could you give me a hand", "She broke my heart"... are phrases that we use in everyday life. Not to mention many other figures of speech such as metonymy or similes.
We live in a world where language is frequently used in a symbolic way. Despite the fact that sometimes it can be a little bit confusing, it is much better than not having any figures of speech at all!
Very good article! I really liked your ideas!
And remember, try to stay cool as a cucumber! Hahaha!
>Cellie and David(teacher)
ReplyDeleteoh really!! quite different meaning from French!
but we can use "cats and dogs" as that meaning in English:)
I want to know the background why it was used as that meaning.
>David
Exactly!! we don't have the day when we don't use metaphorical expressions!
yea and also metaphor makes our writing sophisticated!
Anyway, I am always cool as a cucumber!! Don't worry!!haha