Concepts and language

Browse background material on metaphor, language and related ideas. Metaphor Categories describes linguistic types of metaphor; Subject index organises this library by subject.

Starting points

• About Metaphors of Movement
• Metaphor Categories
• Situational Relational Positioning
• Embodied Cognition
• Idiomatic, Literal and Figurative Communication
• Metaphor Across Languages and Cultures - wording, imagery, translation and context
• Metaphors of Emotion
• Beyond Simple Metaphor
• Metaphors of Movement

Language and ideas

• Linguistic References
• Semiotics
• Archetypes
• The Hero's Journey
• Steganography
• The Golden Bough
• Common Idioms that Originate from the Bible
• Biblical Idioms
• Onomatopoeia
• Palindromes
• Characteristica Universalis
• Word Play
• Parental Threats
• The Ontological Argument
• Gottfried Leibniz Ontological Proof

Compare related metaphors

The illustrated Comparative Metaphor Library connects these background ideas with sourced expressions and literary examples.

• Being Stuck: Barriers, Loops and Waiting - obstruction, repetition, effort and arrival
• Agency and Motion: Moving and Being Moved - propulsion, direction and control
• Inside and Outside: Shelter, Confinement and Belonging - boundaries, access and membership

Reading alongside presentations

Presentation Companion Library connects the Metaphor Society programme with background articles and questions for comparing sources.

Browse further

Idioms A-Z | People and authors | Subject index