What is a thinking-as-examining metaphor?

What is a thinking-as-examining metaphor?

Definition
	A conventional metaphor in which thinking about a problem is represented as examining an object in comparisons such as the following:
	turning the object around represents thinking about different aspects of the problem searching through parts of the object represents thinking through the problem thoroughly

Examples
	Here are some examples in English:
	Let us now examine the question of factory chickens. He turned the question over in his mind. We need to look at this question from every angle. The detective went over the case with a fine-toothed comb.

Generic
	A thinking-as-examining metaphor is a kind of
	What is a metaphor for rational processes?

Source
	Lakoff, G. 1987

Context for this page:

Concept module: thinking-as-examining 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