Metaphor permeates every aspect of our lives, and our thinking.
Here are four near-universal metaphors you may not have noticed - until now.
1. Important is Big Language Examples:
“It’s a big deal”
“A massive result for the team”
“Just a little white lie”
Behaviour Examples:
Taller candidates have an advantage in elections
Chief executives tend to be tall: 30 per cent are 6 ft 2 or taller, and 90 per cent are above average height
Advertisements are broadcast at a higher volume than the programme they accompany
Holding a heavy clipboard or book will lead subjects to rate your work as more important than if they hold a lighter clipboard or book.
2. Happy is Up, Sad is Down Language Examples:
“Things are looking up for me”
“He’s depressed ”
“I’m at a low ebb”
Behaviour Examples:
Sit down, hunched over, and try to feel good. Now stand up, look up, and feel fantastic. Which was easier?
Doctors in the UK are now encouraged to prescribe exercise as a treatment for depression. It’s thought the action of getting up and about makes this a more effective treatment than most prescription drugs.
3. Emotional Closeness is Physical Proximity Language Examples:
We’re a close family
My nearest and dearest
My brothers are like two peas in a pod Behaviour Example
Take a handful of coins and arrange them to represent yourself and your family Notice how you do this. Most people will use physical distance, at least to some extent, to represent emotional closeness. Now imagine that, for reasons outside your control, you have to take one of them away. Notice your emotional response to this challenge As well as highlighting the
“emotional closeness” metaphor, this exercise is a good illustration of the emotional power of metaphor. Few people shrug and say “It’s just a coin in an exercise!” Metaphors - particularly our unconscious metaphors - really matter.
4. Time Is Space Language Examples:
“That’s all behind us now.”
“We’re looking forward to the holidays.”
“Turn back the clock.”
“This week’s flying past.”
Behaviour Examples:
“Wednesday’s meeting has been moved forward two days.”
When will the meeting happen?
What would life be life in a culture where the past was in front, the future, behind?
Time is a very abstract concept, so it can be difficult to think about without using metaphor. Here’s one for a pensive
moment: what other metaphors, not involving space, could be used to represent time?
Watch people’s gestures - particularly people you are in regular contact with. Many people will gesture or glance in one particular direction when talking about the future, and a different direction when talking about the past.