What is a being-subject-to-control-as-down metaphor?

What is a being-subject-to-control-as-down metaphor?

Definition
	A conventional metaphor in which being subject to control is represented as being in a low position, such that a change in vertical position represents a change in degree of subjection to control.

Examples
	Here are some examples in English:
	He is under my control. He fell from power. His power is on the decline. He is my social inferior. He is low man on the totem pole.

Generic
	A being-subject-to-control-as-down metaphor is a kind of
	What is a metaphor for values?

Source
	Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980

Context for this page:

Concept module: being-subject-to-control-as-down metaphor
In modular book: Metaphors in English, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H. Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Lexicon

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 18 September 1998