The trouble with metaphors is that a lot gets lost in translation.
On the other hand, metaphor is everywhere - and is the stuff of language, whether it's the language of money... the language of religion... the language of love...
A lot of metaphors are also clichés - but, then, we all speak in clichés and as a language learner we want to know what people normally and regularly use.
In the latest from Lexical Lab's regular blog by Hugh Dellar for teachers and students, we hear about Metaphors we live by: "a company is like a ship":
In their seminal 1980 book, Metaphors We Live By George Lakoff and Mark Johnson suggested that metaphors are a tool that allow us to use what we know about our physical and social environment to understand more – and to talk abut – abstract things like time, emotions, work and mental activity...
We could indeed go online and find lists of 25 metaphors about sailing and phrases and sayings that have a nautical origin - but, actually, having such language in an entertaining story-like piece means we are much more likely to understand it and so be able to remember it and use it!
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